The Real Witches’ Book of Spells and Rituals

But why does anyone want to use magic? Everyone seeks control of their lives; from the youngest toddler to the oldest wise woman, we all want a say in what happens to us. Magic was more common in times past when we were still close to our native beliefs. It may have been driven underground and turned into superstition for a while, but now it is returning. In a world where just about everything is overlooked or controlled, by laws and people outside our personal influence, we are now remembering and returning to the old ways of taking personal control of our lives and our world, and of making the changes we seek in them. The Craft gives us the ability to do the former and the skills to work the magic to do the latter.

In the Craft we learn:

* Self-development and understanding.

* Personal responsibility and control.

* To live with nature and the elements, in balance and harmony.

* The cycles of the seasons and how they relate to us today.

* To comprehend the energies created by the phases of the Moon and the Sun.

* How the elements relate to us, our lives and our personal balance.

* To use the energies both within and outside of us.

* How to personally communicate with the Divine.

* To live as a part of the real world whilst enhancing our inner lives.

* To focus our will and direct our intent.

* When and how to use the above to create magic to change our world and our lives.

* How to structure our magic through Rites and Rituals to make it work.

In the Craft we use magic and spells to:

* Understand ourselves and those around us.

* Make personal change.

* Understand the world and our place in it.

* Bring inner peace and harmony.

* Bring about physical, emotional and spiritual healing, for ourselves, our near and dear, and for those who seek it for themselves and others.

* Ease communication and aid understanding.

* Aid in study, tests and exams.

* Find work, do well at it and achieve our potential.

* Protect ourselves, our homes and our near and dear.

* Find and nurture friendship, romance, love and partnership.

* Work towards healing the land and protecting the life that grows from it.

* Help us in all aspects of our lives, and the lives of those we care for.

Many people think that magic is a question of saying the right words, in the right way, at a specified time. They’ve seen it on TV so it must be true! Others think that it is a question of mixing the right ingredients in the right way. But magic isn’t cookery and you need to do more! Some think it requires you to step back from real life, to insulate yourself from normal activities such as work, to isolate yourself from normal people by dressing strangely or behaving oddly. But a Witch must live as a part of the real world, not apart from it, to maintain her/his connection with life. A few still believe that magic involves selling your soul to some mythical devil and invoking hypothetical demons to do your bidding! Magic requires none of these, most especially the latter. Magic will only happen by working with, not against, nature to bring about natural change in life and the world. For magic to work it does not require special ingredients and words, but knowledge, effort, energy and understanding.

In finding out how to make your magic work you will have to clear away your personal emotional baggage and come to terms with who you really are and what you can truly be, which is almost certainly more than you think possible now. You will come to understand and harness your personal energies, as well as the energies of the elements. And you will find that you come to know, and be known by, the Goddess and the God.

In this book I have given you not only a series of spells which might be made to work, but also the foundations of the magical practice of Witchcraft, so that you can make your spells work if you are prepared to put the effort in. I know, even as I write this, that there are some readers who will want to go straight into trying the spells, and I cannot stop you. But I do offer the following caution; attempts to practise magic without a good understanding of the basic techniques can result in the magic failing to work, or working in a way that you did not intend. In magic, as in all things, you should be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it!

Most of the magics practised by the non-Witch are done to ward off the bad things in life, rather than to bring on the good. But Witchcraft is not just there to fix that which has gone, or might go, wrong. If you work your spells within the practice of the Craft, you can take control of your life and make positive change. Just remember, magic does not happen ‘as if by magic’ – you have to work at it!

TWO RITES AND RITUALS, SPELLS AND MAGIC (#ulink_466dcdbf-b271-55dc-97ae-a222edac7de3)

MAGICAL TERMS

There are many terms associated with the working of magic: spells, incantations, charms, rites, rituals, and so on. Before we look at actually how to create magic, I’d like to examine some of these terms, so that we all know what we are talking about!

RITES AND RITUALS

A Ritual is a series of thoughts, words and actions performed to bring about a specific result. A series of Rites can go to make up a Ritual. Rites and Rituals are not confined to Witchcraft or magical working, although these are the contexts to which we tend to relate these terms. To clarify: your ‘Ritual of getting up’ could be broken down like this: ‘the Rite of waking’, then ‘the Rite of visiting the bathroom’, ‘the Rite of making a cup of tea or coffee’, and so on. In the Craft we use the term Rites to define pieces of magical working such as creating the Sacred Space, raising power, working a spell, and so on. These Rites can then be placed together to form a Ritual for a specific purpose which could be the working of magic, the celebration of a life event, or maybe a festival.

MAGIC AND SPELLS

Magic is often defined as the ability to create change through the application of will. A spell is defined by the dictionary as a magical formula, but in the Craft we consider it to be more of a process, as magic is not just the doing or saying of things in a certain order. Many Witches do not use the word ‘spell’ to describe their magical working as it tends to conjure up somewhat simplistic images from fiction and mythology rather than expressing the true process of harnessing and focusing internal and external energies to create change.

INCANTATIONS AND CHANTS

Many people expect a ‘spell’ to be, or at least to include, a few rhyming lines which are repeated or even chanted to make something happen. This would be an incantation, and some Witches do use them as a part of their magical process. But it is not necessary to have poetic ability to make magic work.

Chants are verses or songs, usually chanted by Witches working in a group. They are most often used in the Craft as a technique for raising power, that is the harnessing and focusing of the energies of the group. Some Solitary Witches also use chants, but often within their heads rather than out loud.

CHARMS, TALISMANS, TOTEMS, ETC

These are objects which are magically charged so that they may be placed where the magic is desired to work or which may be carried on the person. The definitions between them are often blurred but frequently Talismans are paper or parchment with symbols to represent the magical intent, whereas Charms are frequently jewellery, stones or other objects. Totems are usually a group of objects which are kept together, often in a Totem Bag, which represent a grouping of things or people. A Totem Bag may contain objects to represent each of your family members with the intent of bonding the family together. You may also come across other terms used to describe these kinds of magical artefacts, such as Amulet – usually a charm, which is worn with a protective intent. Sometimes you will have to assess the meaning of a term by the item and the purpose for which it is intended.

‘WORDS OF POWER’

From time to time you may hear, or read, about ‘words of power’, and some people do believe that there are, out there somewhere, special words which if said in a special way will create magical effects. This belief is more appropriate to the realm of the Ritual Magician than that of the Witch. It is true that resonances and vibrations, which are found in many things, can be utilized to help make change. However, their magical ‘power’ comes from the way in which the practitioner can bring those energies into balance with the elements both within and without.

Having said that, it is worth remembering that all words can have the power to make change, depending on how you say them and who you say them to! How many times have you said something that you later regretted? This is why in the Craft we tend to emphasize the need to think before you speak or, for that matter, act.

HOW MAGIC WORKS

Briefly speaking, magic works when you can harness, balance and focus the five elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit, both within yourself and from outside. This is a complex ability, which comes more easily with practice, so we usually start by using a number of visual links and cues to help bring all these elements together. The elements exist inside us and outside of us and they have many symbolic representations, visual and mental links, which may be used and which are often termed correspondences.

Understanding of the five elements is one of the most important concepts of the Craft, and the foundation of working magic. Together with visualization, which I’ll talk about later in this chapter, this is what makes Magic work. All the candles, incense, cords, images and other tools are just that; tools that you use to implement and enhance your understanding of the elements and your ability to visualize.

So what are the elements?