08/05/2012
This is from the workshop I teach at festivals and our church..
Spell Casting 101:
Quick Beginners Course To Spell Casting....
SPELL CASTING 101
Intention and Magickal Ethics: Your first steps in writing or creating a spell come with your very first thoughts and desires about bringing about change. This can be a thought as simple as a wish or inner comment about something you would like to see, do or have.
Magick is the act of bringing about positive change in one’s life. Our thoughts and emotions have a direct effect upon the energy around us. A thought that grows in intention toward a magickal end will have roots in our mind and heart. These are the seats of our thoughts and desires, respectively.
Whether or not we wish to accept the responsibility of our actions is a decision that must be considered with seriousness. Intention and magickal ethics go hand in hand and are the balance that all magickal spells are built upon. When use as a first step, they are the balance that is needed to insure a well grounded and stable spell. When we abide by magickal ethics we are creating a balance between our magickal efforts and nature.
When we are prepared to accept the responsibility for our magickal intentions, and when we have determined that our intent is in compliance with the main concepts of magickal ethics, then we are ready to proceed with the creation of our spell. As part of intention, we will need to discuss the two major types of spellworkings to consider when writing spells.
These are banishing, sending energies away or getting rid of, and manifesting, bringing energies in or creating. It is important to determine what we are trying to accomplish with our spell and considering these two categories will help you to begin.
Spells to manifest are simply spells that we use when we wish to bring something into our lives or create a positive thing or change.
Some of the spells used for these purposes are wishing spells, attraction spells, and spells that are written for the purpose of bringing something or some positive energies into our lives. These types of spells are usually worked when the moon is waxing or when the moon is full, also when the tide is coming in or at high tide. The energies we are working with are those of a drawing nature and intended to bring or create.
Spells of a banishing nature are simply that. They are intended to banish or get rid of situations, bad habits, negativity and the unwanted from our lives. Examples of banishing spells are losing weight, banishing negativity, or shedding a bad habit. By banishing we are sending away undesired energies. Banishing spells are usually worked when the moon is waning, or when the tide is receding or at ebb. The energies we are working with are those of the expelling nature, and intended to rids or send away.
Banishing spells can be different from other spells as they tend to be action spells. By action, I mean they are spells that call for acting out or speaking the intention and usually focus on the spoken charm, timing, writing the intention on paper and burning it, and using candles are a few examples.
A banishing spell can also be written in such a way that you would “act out” the actual banishment. As an example, let’s say your intention is to leave behind a bad habit. You could write a spell that would require you to actually “step away” from your bad habit.
You might write words such as “ I now leave this old habit behind” and as you speak the charm actually take a step forward, literally out of the old and into the new. Alot of banishing spells don’t include actual ingredients. In these types of spells, extra energies will be added by matching correspondences related to timing, candles and colors, elements and directions. Writing and Writing Tools: The actual act of writing a spell begins when the idea of intention first blooms in thought.
When you determine to proceed with writing the spell, is when you begin pouring conscious energy into it. The writing process is part of the spell working and you are actually sending energy into the spell as you create it and write it down. This is why a book of shadows can be a very powerful tool.
A witch pours their personal energy into each spell and entry into their Book Of Shadows. It becomes part of them. There are alot of writing tools available. It all depends on your preferences. However, I would like to suggest that you keep a spell journal. A spell journal will be a record of your spells and how they worked. You can look over your successful spells as well as your near misses, and there will be misses.
By keeping a spell journal, you will be able to look over your work and determine what works and what doesn't.
In your spell journal you will want to include everything about your spell writing. including; how you first came to the idea, when you first intuited the intention, how you are feeling that day, what day of the week it was, what time, where you were when the intention first came to you, and how you were feeling when you started writing. You can simply write these things down or you can make a form and just fill in the blanks.
These are mearly suggestions. After time, most of your spell writing will be based upon intuition and experience and will begin to come more and more easily. With practice, there will come a time when you will begin to intuitively know which ingredients to include and what type of spell and method of magick to use. Whether you choose a pen and inkwell, a pencil or a computer keyboard, you should strive to make your spell writing as magickal an experience as the spell working itself.
Energy and Timing: As most people know, everything in existence is composed of energy. All that exists vibrates at different frequency levels. If you consider the seven levels or planes of existence, you will see that the highest vibrations exist at the highest level, or deity, and the lowest exist at the lowest level, that being matter.
A spirit being will have a very high frequency of vibration and a stone will vibrate at a very low frequency. What does this have to do with magick? Well, as we all know magick is the manipulation of the energy around us to bring about changes in our lives.
Each ingredient that we include in our spell working will have an effect on that energy, sort of like ripples in a pond.
Each stone, herb, color, incense or oil that we include in our spells, will bring its particular properties or energy to that spell. How much of an effect is determined by the number of ingredients we use and their properties.
Also, thought and emotion have an effect upon energy. Though and emotion, like spirit, vibrate at a higher frequency than physical things such as stones and herbs. Proper timing can also boost the intensity of a spell’s energy. The greater effect we have on this energy, the more power we will be introducing into our spells. This is why it is so important to understand the concepts of energy and timing.
Also, you must remember that any spell, regardless of how long it is or how many ingredients are involved, is nothing more than words written on a paper if we do not do the visualization and personal energy work involved. The power of a spell is relative to the amount of energy we put into it. We must empower the spell and all the ingredients to our intention. The ingredients we use do bring their properties to our spells, but the more personal energy we pour into the spell, the more power it attains and the more energy it has when we send it out to the universe, the more successful it is apt to be.
It is of vital importance to every witch to practice and become skilled at visualization and raising power.
Timing is a matter of determining the proper time of day or night, season, hour, moon phase, or even tidal motion for performing a spell for a particular intention. You can find loads of information on correspondences on the Internet and in books.
To address the issue of how to incorporate timing into our spells we need to consider the intention.
As with each ingredient, we want to look for the correspondences or properties of each spell, and determine which period of time, phase of the moon or tidal movement we would like to use for our purpose.
If the spell is a banishing spell , then we would consult our lists of correspondences for the best time and ingredients to include in our spell working to achieve that goal. Spell writing can actually be thought of as making a map.
Your intention is your starting point. Your ingredients and timing are the steps on the map and your goal is at the end. By thinking about it in this way, we can lay out a blueprint for successful spell writing and a successful spell working.
Another important point to consider in relation to timing is the length or duration of the spell. Will the duration of the spell be the length of time it takes to cast the spell ? Or will the effects of the spell continue for a week, a month or longer? Length or duration refers to how long the spell itself will continue working after you have finished casting it.
Spells written to last more than the usual time it takes to cast a spell will need to be determined using basic number correspondences. This means finding the number of hours, or days etc. that the spell will continue. For instance, if the intention of the spell is protection, one might light a white candle for 7 minutes, reciting a spoken charm 7 times and doing this for 7 nights. On the 7th day the spell is completed and ended.
Spell ingredients such as stones and oils, and anything you might choose to include, can be powerful not only as ingredients, but these items themselves can be further empowered or charged by you to bring additional energy into the spell.
How much effort you put into your spell determines how powerful it will be. This has nothing to do with which ingredients or how many are used. I have done some very successful spells and work them and simply thought a desire from deep within my soul. No ingredients were used, just deep intention. So how do you know what kind of spell you need? By using your intuition and your own basic wants.
Charms/Incantations: The dictionary defines “incantation” as ‘ritual recitation of verbal charms or spells to produce a magick effect.’ It is a Latin derivative, which means “to enchant.”
When you include a spoken charm in a spell you are, in a sense, adding a means of enchantment, a way to send our magick out by speaking a chanted charm. Any words we speak from the heart will send our energy out with the spell. It only adds to the harmonious energy of the spell if we can arrange those words into a pleasant sounding rhyme.
Rhymes are easily committed to memory and can be very useful in creating spoken charms. Powerful words or phrases used in spoken charms can send their energy into a spell and work as excellent correspondences; they are a form of spoken ingredients in spells.
The important part, as mentioned, is the intention. Think about your intention. Begin to feel what you are thinking about. If you are focused on bringing prosperity into your life, then begin to feel the desire for it.
Begin to visualize your intention as already in effect. Form a picture in your mind of your intention as having already manifested. How strong is your intention or desire for the outcome? Where do you sense it? Is it just a thought? Do you feel it in your heart? By locating the seat of your desire, you can begin to sense your creative urges kick in and this is what we want to tap into.
Writing is a means of expressing what is in your heart and mind. It is a means of putting into words what you are feeling. It is the tool we use to capture ideas and feelings that come from within. It is a means of interpreting what we experience with our senses. Your emotions find release in the writing of words.
When we experience a desire to create a spell addressing a specific intention, we should listen to our heart and let it speak to us. Write down any thoughts that come to your head. Be creative. A rhyming dictionary can be a useful tool in finding words that will rhyme to produce a rhythmic or musical flowing effect. Selecting words that express your feelings can be a powerful part of spell writing. Words that flow in a melodic nature can add an extra boost of energy in a working.
Once you are ready to begin to create the spoken part of your spell, you will be very familiar with your intention. By this time, it has been growing in strength and power with each thought you have given it. With your intention in mind, think about how you are going to bring it into form. Think about the method or magickal technique that you will be using and include this in your charm.
If you are using a simple candle spell, you might focus the intention upon the candle and make reference to it.
For example, you might say something like this for a money spell: “Candle flame strong and bright, Draw money to me on this night.” Use simple words that say what you want. The phrases can be repeated as a chant and will form their own rhythm in the repetition. The charm itself can be as long or short as you choose. I would suggest you keep the charms short to begin with. This makes it easier to remember and you will be less likely to make mistakes that can break the rhythm if you are chanting the charm. Your charms can express the nature of your spell whether it is a solemn working or one of lightness and joy. It is important to sense the spell and let your creativity flow from it.
Take into consideration the time of day and use it as you write. You may want to include the ingredients you are using in the wording of the charm. For instance you might want to include the herbs, stones, or oils by name and include their magickal properties and how they will affect your intention. Your wording may stress your need and may be in the form of a request for the power of the magickal ingredients’ properties to boost the energy of your spell.
Another method of boosting the power of your charm is to determine the number of times to repeat the charm. Numbers have a magickal property of their own. By matching your intention with the magickal properties of numbers, you can add extra power to the chant as well as to the entire spell. Whatever method of writing you choose to create your spoken charm, remember that you will do well to memorize the charm and know it before performing your spell.
This is important because you will be able to speak the charm from your heart and will be able to speak it without reading it. As you speak a charm in this way, from your heart, it is rising from within you on a cellular level and coming out with your breath, much like the technique used in magickal breathing. When using charms in this manner, it is much more beneficial if we have committed the charm to memory and can speak it from within and not by reading what was written on paper. Once you have written your spell and committed it to paper, you will find that most of it is committed to your memory as well.
Lay Out and Composition: For the purposes of this lesson we will carry out the writing of a Prosperity Pouch Spell. In composing or laying out a spell, I like to think of it as writing a recipe for change. Spells are a lot like recipes. They contain a list of ingredients and steps for preparation and ex*****on. For a magickal spell, our first thought is our intention. With this in mind you might like to think of a title for your spell. However, at this time, your intention is most important.
The title can simply be your intention. If your spell intention addressed prosperity, you might simply call it ‘My Prosperity Pouch Spell’ or even include your name ‘Lynda’s Prosperity Pouch Spell’. Consider continuing without choosing a name. Often a name will come to you while you are writing the spell. Next, you will want to date your spell by simply entering the date you wrote it or began writing it. As you are the one who created it, you alone know when it came into being, whether it is the day you first thought of it, or the day you actually sat down and began writing it. The choice is yours.
Then, state your purpose in a brief phrase. For instance, ‘A spell for a prosperous change written by Lynda’ or simply ‘A prosperity pouch spell written by Lynda’. You just want to write something to comment on the intention of the spell. If you are writing a spell for someone else, then you might want to say something like ‘A prosperity pouch spell written for a friend’. What ever the case may be, statement of purpose will make it easier for you to identify a spell when you are looking for a spell to use.
In spell-writing it is important to determine the timing related to your spell. Here you will enter the time of day, day of the week, planetary hours, moon phase, tidal movement, or what ever other timing information you choose to use, if any. Also included here will be exact dates the spell will cover. For instance, if the spell will last seven days, then you will enter the beginning date and the ending date, including month, day, and year. Again, it is up to you how many of these correspondences you will use, or if you choose to use any at all.
A point to consider when writing a spell is setting the location. Where you perform the spell may take some planning. If you choose to perform your spell outdoors, such as at a park or at the seashore, you will need to take into consideration the other ingredients. You won’t want to try to light candles at a park if there is a fire danger warning in effect. You would not want to attempt to keep a candle lit on a windy beach. For this you might like to use a jar candle or even an oil lamp.
If you write a spell that is to be cast outdoors you will need to make sure that all and any ingredients that you may place out in nature are ecologically safe. For instance, if your spell involves leaving an offering to Deity or nature, you would want to leave something like flowers, herbs, or natural objects. You would not want to leave plastic or imitation flowers. When spell casting outdoors, be prepared to pack out all waste and trash.
If others before you were not as thoughtful, bless Mother Earth by picking up after them. Another point to consider is privacy. If you are sure that there will be no unexpected visitors, you can pretty much perform your spell as you choose. Ideally, this is what we all would like in an outdoor setting. However, if your location is a public beach or park, you will want to be discreet and try to find a private place. Always be sure to carry out anything you carried in; never leave trash or anything harmful to nature. This is why I like to stress the use of only natural ingredients for spell workings. Always leave the area better than you found it.
Another important step in the process is to enter the supplies you will use in the spell. You will want to list the ingredients and the amounts or numbers needed. If you are including one of each item, then you will want to list it that way. It is important to remember that numbers play a very important role in spell-writing and working. Numbers have magickal meanings and these meanings are often interpreted differently depending upon who is doing the interpretation. Use your intuition. Listen to your inner self and start there. You can use the common magickal meanings attributed to numbers, also. The choice is yours. If your intuitive powers are strong, then listen to them. There will be a list of number correspondences in a later lesson.
You will also want to list anything you will need to perform the casting of this spell. You should list all ingredients as well as all tools needed. An example of items to list here would be herbs, oils, incense, stones, candles, magickal or ritual tools (chalice, cauldron athame, etc.), pouches, pen, paper, matches, cords, mixing bowls, water - anything you will use for or in the spell. One of the most creative parts of spell-writing may very well be your incantation or spoken charm, or any spoken words.
These are usually spoken at specific intervals of the spell-working. You will need to compose the charm or incantation and determine when it will be spoken. Most are usually spoken or chanted when the ingredients are being blended together or put together. For instance, if you are putting together a magickal pouch spell using an herb, an oil, a stone, a pouch and a candle as your ingredients/ supplies, you might want to begin combining the herb, stone and oil by mixing them together in a bowl. While you are mixing you will be chanting the incantation. It might be something like: “Herbs and stone and oil combine, Let prosperity be mine!” You will need to determine the number of times to repeat the chant by determining the magickal number to match the intention.
There may be more chants or incantations included in a spell, in fact there may be many, however for the purposes of this basic course, we will simply include one.
A major step that makes your spell working flow smoothly is called ‘procedure’.
These are the step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the spell. You will begin at the first steps. The instructions might read like this: “At your altar or sacred space, place your pentacle disk in the center with the mixing bowl in the center of the pentacle disk. Light the green candle. Place the herbs and stone in the bowl, add the oil by drop. Mix them together. Repeat the following incantation three times: ‘Herbs and stone and oil combine, Let prosperity be mine!’
Now take up the pouch in your receptive hand (left hand for right handed people) and with your power hand (right hand for right handed people) pick up the magickal mixture of herb, oil and stone, and place it into the pouch. Empower the pouch and its contents by sending your energy from within you, and into the pouch through your power hand.” Determining the steps in the spell requires a lot of thought and consideration. How you accomplish this is a matter of thinking the process through as if you were actually working the spell in your mind. It is sort of like trying to find your path in unfamiliar territory. You will probably make a few false starts until you come up with your procedure.
When you get to the point of describing your procedure, you will already know what type of spell you are writing. In the case of our example ‘Prosperity Pouch Spell’ we knew we wanted to make a pouch that could be carried or worn. With that said, we then knew it would require ingredients and those ingredients would have to be empowered and combined so we chose to use the mixing bowl to mix the ingredients and the charm spoken as we mixed and empowered, followed by placing the ingredients into the pouch. Next comes the closing. At this point, for this particular spell, we have pretty much finished our spell. All that is left now is to close it and this is simply done by extinguishing the candle and speaking a closing.
Your closing can be anything you wish to state. You may simply want to say ‘So mote it be!’ or ‘Blessed Be’. In keeping with magickal ethics, the Rede, the Law of Three, and Karma, I always like to end by including the following or similar words: ‘With harm to none and for the highest good of all concerned, So mote it be!’ In perfect love and perfect trust, we thus seal the spell and send it on its way into the Universe and into the hands of the Goddess and God.
As an option, you may wish to include an entry titled ‘Further Instructions’. In the case of the sample spell, it would give instructions on how to use and maintain the pouch. It can be very confusing if after working a spell you are unsure about how to deal with what it left over. This section will tie up any loose ends by explaining any details not mentioned in the actual spell. This is the perfect place to mention what to do with any libations (drink, liquid, etc.), herbs, incense or other items that may be left over from the spell casting.
Whether they should be cast to the wind or buried or whatever needs to be done, this is the place to explain it. So, we have gone through the steps of writing and laying out the spell. Let’s see what it will look like when it is all written out.
We will use Lynda’s Prosperity Pouch Spell as an example.
Lynda’s Prosperity Pouch Spell
A prosperity pouch spell written by Lynda
Timing: At Noon during the time of the Full Moon.
Date of Creation: Jan. 1, 2004
Supplies Needed: A pinch of goldenseal herb
A drop of cinnamon oil
1 small Aventurine stone
A small pouch to be worn or carried on person.
1 green candle
Your pentacle disk
A small mixing bowl or shell
Location: At home: at your altar or other sacred space.
Charm/Incantation: Herbs and stone and oil, combine Let prosperity be mine!’
Procedure: Prepare your altar or sacred space. “At your altar or sacred space, place your pentacle disk in the center with the mixing bowl in the center of the pentacle disk. Light the green candle. Place the herbs and stone in the bowl, add the oil by drop. Mix them together repeating the following incantation three times: ‘Herbs and stone and oil combine, Let prosperity be mine!’ Now take up the pouch in your receptive hand (left hand for right handed people) and with your power hand (right hand for right handed people) pick up the magickal mixture of herb, oil and stone, and place it into the pouch and seal or close the pouch.” Empower the pouch and its contents by sending your energy from within, and into the pouch through your power hand.
Closing: Now extinguish the candle and finish by saying: ‘With harm to none and for the highest good of all concerned, So mote it be!’ It is done.
Further Instructions: The pouch should be worn or carried as needed to attract prosperity. The contents of the pouch may be refreshed or replaced as needed or desired. As we see here, our spell is complete and as such can be worked at the proper time, as needed.
Journal Keeping: Now that the spell is written and has been cast, you will want to get your spell-writing journal out and start keeping records or notes about your workings.
In it you will want to record your experiences with writing and casting the spell. What you choose to put into your spell-writing journal is up to you. Keep in mind that having a record of your experiences with spells you have written for yourself, or written for others, will help you to understand your strengths as well as points you may need to work on. You will also be able to look back at the timing and ingredients and determine which you most enjoyed and which were most beneficial.
You will be able to discern patterns in your workings and in the cycles of time. You will begin to know yourself better by reviewing your spell-writing journal. You will be able to see your energy cycles and how they react to the timing of your spell. You should even be able to discern your creative cycles. As you create spells by impulse or intuition, you will begin to find that others around you will come to you seeking your help.
Your journal will then be invaluable for keeping information related to spells you created specifically for others. They should be written in the same manner, the only difference being how they are performed. If the person chooses to perform the spell alone, then a well-written spell will have all the specifics related to the complete casting of the spell. There will be no questions in the person’s mind as to how to proceed or how to perform the steps involved.
Everything will be written out, in detail. Of course, in this case, you will have to wait to see the results of the actual spell casting, and then make an entry in your journal. If the spell is to be worked by you, then you will keep the records much the same way as you would for a spell written for yourself. If the spell is worked in the presence of the person for whom it was written, then you will mention their presence. The person’s presence will have an effect upon the spell due to their energy. This should also be noted in your journal.
Entries into the journal should include: • Name of Spell: • Intention: • Date Performed: • If for another, their name: • Performed by: • Results: • Comments:
The ‘Results’ section is where you will record how the spell turned out. If it was a prosperity spell that did not have an ending date, such as our sample spell, then you may want to make entries as time passes. You would make note of changes that occur in your situation.
This type of spell will be one that you will come back to your journal for many times, making entries to note any changes. Any special circumstance or unusual occurrences should be noted in the comments section. These would include anything out of the ordinary that may have happened. Any signs or omens you may experience by seeing, hearing, feeling, or sensing as well as any temperature changes while you worked the spell, or any scents or odors that you may have noticed can all be signs from Spirit.
These should all be noted in the ‘Comments’ section. Signs can come from any source. They could come from the sounds of animals outside or they could come as a whispered thought from within. Whatever the occurrence, whatever the source, you might want to make note of it in your ‘Comments’ section.
It can be helpful to determine if there are any patterns related to signs or omens in your spell workings. When selecting your journal, you may want to consider the benefits of different styles. Computers have made it very easy to keep all our written information on floppy disk.
This has its benefits, in that we can easily print out our journal entries and also keep a copy on disk. Printing out our journal pages to keep in a binder or file enables us to have a hard copy where we can include pictures, herb samples, oil samples, stone, feathers and whatever else may have been included in a spell that will help us to relate in an exciting visual and sensual manner. Keeping a journal on floppy disk makes it very easy to send spells we have written to others who may be in need, in a speedy manner. Floppy disk journals can enable us to take our journal with us and not have the bulk of a book or notebook-style journal to contend with.
As witches, we can expect similar results to words that we record on a floppy disk as we expect with any other form of writing. Floppy disks make it easy to make changes and insert additional comments as results and changes of note occur. Keeping a journal in a hand-written manner is one of the most exciting and empowering experiences that I have had the pleasure of enjoying. A bound book with blank or lined pages can be very empowering to use.
It can work like a key to shift your consciousness in preparation for your spell-writing. There are a variety of bound books available and some very unusual handmade blank books can be obtained at Renaissance Fairs and Metaphysical bookstores. Remember, when using a bound book, you will want to leave space for future entries. Loose-leaf notebooks can be useful in that they can easily accommodate additional pages and inserts, which can be helpful when making additional entries. The style of book you select for your journal is a choice that only you can make. It is entirely a matter of personal choice and convenience.
Your journal is your private place to record your experiences and results in spell-writing. As such you may want to be sure it is kept in a secure location. An old wooden box, the kind used for storing silverware, makes a wonderful chest for storing your journal or Book of Shadows. The boxes themselves can be decorated with symbols and personal sigils of protection. A journal box can help to keep your journal out of sight and safe. Always be careful when traveling with your journal. Keeping a back-up copy on floppy disk is always a good idea.
In concluding this lesson, remember that your journal is a tool that can be used to aid you in your growth and development as a powerful witch. Use it wisely and intuitively, respecting free will and harming none.
