Tag: spells

Item Summoning Spell or A spell to summon an object or lost item to you [tumblr repost]

This spell is great for both getting an object or item that you want but don’t have yet or to find a missing object. It’s one of the earlier spells I’ve written that I still use.

Think of the exact item you want. For example, if you want a book, remember the author’s name, the book title, and the cover art. Now say the following while throwing out energy and magic into the world.

“I summon you [item]

Come to my side

Over distances far and wide, 

find me and become mine.”

Pull the energy towards you, like dragging the item into your arms.

It’s a pretty simple spell but works beautifully.

Originally posted as an ask over on tumblr.

Happy Home Jar Spell (Spell Saturday #10)

With the winter holidays fast approaching, we’re pushed to have a lot of holiday cheer. For some people, that’s very easy and for others, the winter holidays are nightmarish. I wrote this spell to help out everyone in those situations.

arsp 01

The purpose of this spell is to bring happiness and joy into the household. Ideally, people won’t get up in arms about life choices made and old arguments. and maybe wounds may begin to heal.

What you need:

  • Jar or bottle of plastic or glass. Size, shape, and color up to you.
  • Water, pot to boil water in, and salt
  • Herbs or flora: Basil, blue hydrangea, sea holly (erynogo), lavender, angelica root, chamomile, bay laurel, flax seed, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ginger, motherwort, garlic, citrus zest (orange, lemon, lime, etc peels), vervain, vanilla, vetiver, yarrow, or rosemary.
  • Sugar: golden sugar preferred but brown sugar or just regular white cane sugar, or sugar alternatives will certainly do.
  • Other: myrrh, dragon’s blood, benzoin, regular table salt, sea salt, pink salt, cascarilla (powdered eggshell), citrine, amethyst, chrysoprase, pink or blue tourmaline, turquoise, rose quartz, aquamarine, chalcedony, malachite, sodalite, or calcite.
  • Personal items from each target person or pet: hair, nails, etc. Alternatively, you can have a list of names instead. Dirt, ashes, or rocks from the family home or fireplace can also be used.

Note: You don’t have to have everything on the list above. Just pick out what you have or want to add in. Family items such as dirt from the family home might not be useful if you live in an apartment building or move a lot and personal items of the family could be omitted if you want a more general happy home spell.

arsp 03

  1. Select a jar or bottle. Ideally, the bottle should be glass but plastic will work as well.The size, color, and shape it up to you but consider any traveling the bottle might do or where it’s going to sit. Small plastic bottles would be useful if you travel for the holidays but a larger more decorative jar can be put out on the counter during cooking to keep things copacetic.
  2. Wash the jar in boiling hot salt water. This can be done by getting pot larger than your jar and filling it with water and adding a few pinches of salt in. Make sure the salt dissolves and put the jar in before letting the water boil. Once the water boils, turn off the water and let it cool before removing it from the water. If you’re worried about the jar melting, just wash it in very hot salt water.
  3. Let the jar cool and dry completely before attempting to use. Now would be a good time to consider painting or otherwise decorating the jar or jar lid if applicable.
  4. Now layer in the heavier items like salt, resin pieces, ashes, dirt, or even the stones. Personal items should be also mixed in here but shouldn’t be seen through the glass or plastic so put down a layer of something else first and keep those personal items towards the middle. When you add them say “This is the foundation of my family, strong. We are unified.“
  5. Next add in the botanical materials. You can mix this however you want. When you add them in say “This brings peace to our home. We are happy and unified.“
  6. Now add a thin layer of sugar to the top. You can put your stones or other items on top as decoration, if you like. When you set up this layer say “This brings us kindness. We are happy and joyful.”
  7. Now seal the jar up. You can do this with tape, paint, glue, or wax. Blue’s a good chosen color. However, you can simply just cork or screw the jar shut if that’s easier for you. Hold the jar in your hands and imagine or say aloud how you want the home to be like. People enjoying each other’s company, sharing a meal, going home safely, no arguments or crying, etc. Dream of the perfect family environment. Push your energy into the jar as you do this.
  8. You can now set the jar somewhere where it can be seen in a busy place in your household (a high shelf or tucked into a corner on the counter will work nicely. Or you can carry the jar as needed. Shake or add more energy to give the spell a boost as needed.

arsp 04

Tips:

  • This jar spells can be very easily adapted for your personal usage and can even be made travel size. All that you need to do is to select a jar or bottle that suits your needs and go from there.
  • If you’re using a jar that has labels on it, the boiling water trick will remove it. If the adhesive is still on, rubbing it with some baking soda will take it off. If you do this however, boil it a second time in clean salt water.
  • If you can’t avoid the personal items being seen in the jar, don’t worry about it too much. It’s more for decorative purposes and peace of mind than anything else. The spell won’t suffer from it.
  • Normally jar spells have wet items it in. I skipped this because I wanted the jar to be decorative for a long time. If you want to add liquids, I recommend the following: honey, sugar water, sunflower oil, Four Thieves Vinegar, or even salt water.
  • This is a long-term spell so it can sit out or be added to as needed. If the spell seems to be fading, you can swap out the ingredients for fresh material, give the jar a little shake, or push more energy and magic into the jar.
  • In order to get rid of the spell, pour out the ingredients into a dug hold on your family’s yard or garden. Alternatively, you can bury it at a park or even toss it in the trash.

That’s it! Happy casting!

The Sand Trap (Spell Saturday #9)

Welcome to Spell Saturday #9!

This time I’m taking a spell from Scott Cunningham’s Earth, Air, Fire, & Water. People are very opinionated on Cunningham’s work. I find that so long as you remember that Cunningham was writing for an audience that was, at the time, conflating Wicca and witchcraft and that the material is largely 20+ years old, you’re just find. I do have issues with some of his herbalism and general statements but honestly, you’re going to find issues with anything if you look hard enough.

“The Sand Trap” is a lengthy ritual starting on page 46 and continuing to page 48 of Earth, Air, Fire, & Water. I’m going to paraphrase some due to lengthiness and unnecessary wordiness.

The Sand Trap

This [is] a simple ritual designed to “trap” negative energies before they enter your home.

  • Small glass jar, cleaned and dried. Must be glass for this spell. (1)
  • Equal quantities of two different colors of sand (2) (Enough to fill half the jar of each if possible)
  • Spoon (3)
  • Two small bowls to hold sand (4)

Visualize the sand “protective, projective energy.” and “emitting sparks of bright white light that ensnares negativity and draw it inward.” (5)

Now pour a spoonful or the first sand into the jar saying this:

Trap of sand

Trap the ill.

Trap the bane and

Evil will.

Now pour a spoonful of the second color/type of sand in saying the above charm again. Keep laying the sand in alternative bands until you’re out of sand or the jar’s filled.

Once filled, visualize the sand protecting you once again and say the above charm  once more. And you’re done.

Crown’s note:

(1) I find jam jars are great for this but so are small canning jars. Due to the nature of the spell, this is the kind of thing you don’t have to bury in the yard so it’s excellent for apartment and dorm dwellers to keep in a window. It also serves as decoration so it’s literally perfect for stealth protection for those in the woods (6).

(1) Colored sand would be really good for this. You can buy some at craft stores or even aquarium stores. Cunningham says for them to not be artificially colored but I don’t see why that should be? Cunningham does come from a crowd where artificial=bad to some extent and I can’t see a reason why colored sand wouldn’t work so I say use what appeals to you. Picking colored sand can also help add color association to the spell. You can also use as many types or colors of sand as you want or have. I’m not really seeing an explicit reason why two types of sand are necessary here.

(3) The spoons here I think make the process longer. I’d just pour the sand at will and eyeball the amounts. If you want even amounts of sand for aesthetic or whatever purposes, a spoon or scoop probably would be easier. It would take longer though.

(4) I’m not sure I understand the point of the bowls here. I’d just use whatever you’re using to hold the sand originally if that’s easier for you.

(5) There is a very wordy description on how charging the sand and enchanting it in the book. Use whatever method works for you here. You don’t need to do exactly what he describes. Honestly, use whatever visualization or wording you need to use to get the sane to absorb negativity coming your way.

(4) “in/out of the woods” is a term put forward by a member of the witchcraft community on tumblr. It’s intended to take the place of “in/out of the broom closet” which may be offensive to other members of minority groups. Plus, it’s absolutely adorable.

Happy casting!

Good Luck Knot Spell (tumblr repost) (Spell Saturday #8)

A super fast knot spell for good luck.

  1. Find yourself some red, white, yellow/gold, blue, and green string (or ribbon, yarn, embroidery thread, whatever).
  2. Cut them into about 10 inch pieces. Ideally, the string should wrap around your wrist or ankle plus 2-3 inches, depending on the thickness of your knotting material. So 10 inches might be too much. Try to overestimate rather than underestimate.
  3. Hold the threads together and make a knot with all of them saying/thinking/etc. “With this knot the spell’s begun”
  4. Make a knot in the red string. “This knot is for luck.”
  5. Make a knot in the yellow/gold string. “This knot is for wealth and prosperity.”
  6. Make a knot in the blue string “This knot is for protection”
  7. Make a knot in the green string. “This knot is for growth.”
  8. Make a knot in the white string. “This knot is for preservation.”
  9. Knot all the threads together. “And this knot is to bring it all together and bring this lucky boon to me.”
  10. Then tie the cord around your wrist or ankle. Or you can carry it with you.

Ideally, you should be envisioning your intent while doing the spell but I’ve done this spell drunk at a bar with zero envisioning and only white packing twine and it worked great.

Happy casting!

Originally posted over on tumblr here.

Lirenne’s Hex (tumblr repost) (Spell Saturday #6)

This one is firmly planted in the realm of pop culture magic, specifically the Dragon Age universe. Taken from Dragon Age: The Masked Empire. So if you haven’t read the book and/or don’t want to be spoiled, skip this post (although, this spoiler is so out place you don’t really know the context without reading it). If you’re not into practicing pop culture magic or paganism, just past this one by.

As a character, I both like and dislike Lirenne. I might have liked her more if I knew more about her but she’s kind of archetype more than a fully fleshed out character which saddens me. She’s also a mid-book entrance character, an apostate mage that specializes in entropy with a bit of creation on the side. Despite this working against uneven characterization, she does have a fantastic hex on page 338 which she uses against a varterral.

For those who don’t know or don’t remember, the varterral is a guardian of elven ruins. You fight one in DA2 and read about one in DA: The Masked Empire. It looks similar to a praying mantis, but blind, venomous, and bound by magic. In The Masked Empire, the varterral “feels our movements through the ground, like a snake, and it tastes the guilt of those who dishonor this place.” (Felassan, page 332) This should bring back memories for DA2 players and readers of The Masked Empire alike.

Onto the spell. First, to quote the book:

Lirenne smiled, even as the varterral turned to Gaspard. “Spirit born of wood and stone and air, you were created to protect those now dead. You have failed in your duty.” She raised her hand, and her staff flared with pale light. “Fail again.” (page 338)

Now, how can we recreate this fantastic little hex in real life?

To defeat an enemy that is more powerful than you, especially someone in a position of authority, this spell would be perfect. This spell would be even better if followed up with a secondary curse. Here’s what you’ll need to complete this hex:

  • A substitute for your enemy. Poppet, picture, piece of hair/skin/nail/object they own.
  • What they’ve done against you or what they do
  • String of some kind

Get your substitute and center yourself. Rage is probably the emotion you’re feeling right now but it doesn’t have to be to rock this spell. Just be absolutely dead set on destroying them.

Pointing or death glaring at the substitute, really focus on the idea that your target will stumble, that for a moment their world will pause, shift, and in that moment, you will strike (that strike could be a second curse or a more mundane method of deposing them.) If you use visualization and/or energy manipulation, visualize the moment where your target will slip up and push your energy out in a sharp flash to cut at the knees, so to speak. (If they rely on their car for example, their knees might be their car’s health).

Now say,

“Creature of spite, ignorance, and hate, you were (trained/taught/granted/born,etc) to (what they’re suppose to be doing). You have failed at this.”

Wrap the substitute with the string, binding it. Focus on the legs but don’t forget the torso. You can also cross out/sew shut the face, eyes, mouth.

Finish up by saying “Now fail again.” Really push that idea of what you want to happen. Take the substitute and bury it at a graveyard or crossroads.

Want some examples? Here you go:

Here’s one for a cop on administrative leave after being a racist dick:

“Creature born of spite, ignorance, and hate, you were trained to protect. You have failed in your duty. Now fail again.”

Another one for a teacher who goes out of their way to harass girls who do not comply to the misogynist school dress code.

“Creature born of spite, ignorance, and hate, you were suppose to educate. You have failed in your duty. Now fail again.”

A third one for an ex-friend who fucked someone over.

“Creature born of spite, ignorance, and hate, you were suppose to stay loyal at my side. You have failed. Now fail again.”

And so on. Really, the uses for this simple spell are endless, to be honest, especially if you pair it up with a curse.
Happy hexing! See the original tumblr post here.

Basil, King of Herbs, Continuous Money Spell (Spell Saturday #4)

This is an original spell of my own creation. I don’t know where I first heard basil is the king of herbs but it’s an incredibly common plant used in money spells.

Some of the ideas you’ll see in this spell do appear in other works. They’re scattered like rambling thoughts throughout European spells. Just a glance through the money spells section in Judika Illes’ Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells would reveal this. I’ve combined some of the best ideas into one mega spell for continuous wealth and money.

The idea behind the spell:

Ideally, this spell will “grow” your money. As long as the basil plant lives and is cherished, money will continue to grow and come into the home. If the basil dies or is destroyed, cleanse the home and start again.

What you’ll need:

  • Flower pot (any is good but it should be well-draining)
  • A sunny place in your kitchen, near the front door, or the heart of the home
  • Dirt. Can be bought but put at least a small handful of dirt from the property should also be added.
  • Small slip of paper and a writing utensil
  • Coins with the year of your birth. Find additional coins for each member of your household with the years of their birth. You may also want to add a coin from the year your family or business moved in.
  • A basil plant. You can buy one, transplant one, or grow from seed.
  1. Write down your desire for the spell. If you want a certain amount to come in each week, then write that. If you want money to just come in steadily, write that instead. Example: Every full moon this plant see will double my bank account or As this plant grows so does my money and wealth and when this plant dies, my debts die with it.
  2. Layer some dirt in the bottom of the flower pot. Then intermittently layer dirt and coins until about 1/3 of the pot is full.
  3. Fold up the piece of paper and put it in the center of the pot. Place the plant on top of the paper. Fill in with soil. Place the plant in that sunny spot and enjoy!

What results to expect:

As long as the plant grows, so will your money. You’ll probably begin to see a slow but steady increase of work hours, customers, or just extra money. Random checks from miscalculated bills in your favor may appear or a really sweet coupon or you could even find $20 in an old pair of shoes. This should be a steady stream and will continue to grow so be sure you can handle the extra hours of work being thrown at you if necessary. I noticed the proximity of the basil to my work desk would increase the chances of more clients. When I’m booked, I’ll move the basil plant somewhere else for a little while and the pressure seems to wear off a bit.

Notes for the ingredients:

Flower pot: I tend to prefer terracotta flower pots but that’s mostly aesthetic. Smaller pots are better for windowsills but really, it depends on where you’re growing your plant. Remember that you can always add symbols, sigils, and other magical drawings or written spells to both the inside and outside of the flower pot to help the plant and your money grow.

A sunny place: I specifically say places such as the kitchen, front door, and the heart of the home. The heart of the home will be the center of the home or the place where the family is most often. (Or where you do the most work if you’re a business). The kitchen is often considered the heart of the home but this may not be true for you. Near the front door is a great place to put a basil plant for a business but if you most commonly come in through the back door, then that location isn’t very useful in the home. Pick a spot that is the most powerful and yet undisturbed in your home. For me, I grow several plants, one in my office area, one in my green house, one on my front steps, and one in my mother’s kitchen. I’d put one in my own but I don’t get enough light. So pick your spot with both the power of the home and the plant’s needs in mind.

Dirt: I have crappy soil in my current home so I buy soil in 50 pound bags. When I do this spell however, I add a handful of dirt from the richest, most lush part of my yard. When I lived in an apartment, I added some dirt I snagged some the apartment’s driveway as there was no grass on the property. Similar spells sometimes ask for graveyard dirt or crossroads dirt. These requirements puzzle me as they don’t explain why you would need that earth. Tradition maybe. The graveyard dirt might be useful if you want to encourage spirits to aid your home’s wealth or if you want to ask ancestor’s to bless your home financially. Crossroads dirt might be useful if you want to scatter debts to the wind (but that’s kind of a different direction to take this spell), to borrow the power of the crossroad, or if you work with crossroads spirits. I’d pick a crossroads where businesses sit on all four roads if only so you can draw in the energy and wealth from their businesses too. I also add some used coffee grounds to the flower pot to give the spell a kick of energy and to speed along the process.

Small scrap of paper and writing utensil: You might want to use organic paper and magical ink. I usually use scrap paper and a sharpie. Sometimes I’ll write my spell in blood. It depends on my mood. Using blood or magical inks would give the spell and extra kick but the spell works just as well if you use a crayon and notebook paper, to be honest. Just avoid putting post it notes in the soil. The adhesive usually isn’t good for the plant.

Coins with the year of your birth: This is an older tradition from where I don’t know. Maybe it’s just one of those things that crop up. I tend to pick coins that are the largest denomination with my birth year that I can find, or even add a handful of coins. Then I select the same for anyone living in my house (or your employees). I might even toss in some coins for friends, depending on my exact purpose and mood at the time. You could even use paper money, if you want but searching the couch for coins is probably easier than watching a $20 be buried under soil. Add as many coins as you want but don’t cover the bottom entirely as the flower pot won’t drain. You may also want to dress the coins with money-drawing powder, oils, or herbs.

A basil plant: I’ve transplanted basil, bought it, and grown it from seed. I’ve been given it by friends. Basil is known as the king of herbs traditionally and it’s well known for prosperity and increasing things. It’s also used for fertility, romance, and to increase wealth. It’s been used in funerary rites and is sacred to a few deities. You don’t have to grow just basil though. You can add other plants like marigolds (for sunny wealth), thyme (another traditional money plant), cactus (because it doesn’t die), or whatever else you’d want to use.

Other suggestions:

Bless, cleanse, and consecrate your tools as needed. You might want to bless the coins or cleanse them for example. You can enchant each tool and ingredient to bring in wealth and money.

You may also want to meditate with the plant to see if you can speak to it’s spirit and tell it the purpose of the spell and ask for it’s aid. This is especially true if you’re an animist. I tend to talk to the plant while casting this spell, especially when messing with the soil. Dialogue usually sounds like this: “You’re going to be the biggest, best basil plant ever and each leaf you grow will bring me so much money. It’s going to be great. You get water and love and I get to pay all my bills comfortably AND buy stuff AND save money. Fuck yeah, you’re the bestest basil plant ever.” It might not be the witchiest verse ever but it works for me. Do what works best for you.

I didn’t mention intent above but if you use purposefully intent in your spells you’ll want to see yourself comfortably paying your bills, stopping off for a luxurious coffee, buying something you want in a store without worrying about bills, and being pleased with money in your savings account. For businesses, you’ll want to see that you’re in the black and a steady stream of customers. You’ll also want to envision this happening immediately, in the season you’re in and with the way things are now.

You may want to wait for the right astrological correspondence. For this spell, I believe it’s Wednesday and the full moon.

Watering the plant? Every so often steep basil in water like a tea and once cool use that to water the plant. Don’t do this every time as plants prefer clear, clean water but it can give the spell a kick.

Google up some basil plant care instructions so you know how to best handle your basil plant.

Happy casting!

Protection Wreaths (Spell Saturday #2)

Happy Spell Saturday!

Wreaths are fussy things aren’t they? I use to dislike them. They felt old, fussy, and traditional. I didn’t understand the point of them so I never had them around. Until I fell in love with a black feather wreath. The feathers were small, but soft, shiny, and elegant. I adored it and brought it home and hung it on my door immediately.

Since then I’ve changed my mind. I still don’t tend to like many wreaths but I do find some beautiful and I even have one hanging on my wall right now made from vines from my garden and a twine.

Purpose: To create a magic wreath to protect the home.

Ingredients:

  • Base wreath form and any covering for the wreath form if necessary
  • Any protective plants such as the following: Peony, cinquefoil (five finger grass), fennel, garlic flowers, geranium, mugwort, parsley, hydrangea, roses, sunflowers, yarrow, rosemary, juniper, dill, bay laurel, angelica, Saint John’s wort, caraway, cumin, rowan, elder, ash, oak, purslane, rue
  • Iron nails, crystals, holey stones, bone and wood beads, feathers, fabric, and shells
  • Twine, ribbon, or wire

Select your wreath form and add any covering to it by wrapping or tying your covering around it.

Carefully arrange your base material in an aesthetically pleasing way. Depending on your design, your base material might be feathers, plants, wood, or whatever else. You should also consider adding other ingredients such as shells, iron nails, crystals, beads, stones and crystals, fabric, or whatever else to add to your design. As you tie, twist, or wrap the ingredients to your wreath, say the following:

With each element I add

I protect my home, my business, my loved ones, and my life

With each element I add

Protection from all who would wish harm to me

Be warned those who would do harm

You are not welcome here – be gone

I am protected so be gone

Once done, bless your wreath and dab it with holy or blessed water or protective oils/waters and hang it on your front door or walls.

Notes:

  • This is an art project so mix and match your ingredients to match your aesthetic, desire, and available ingredients.
  • Base form can be vines, a store-bought foam, cardboard, wicker, metal wreath form frame or even twist the plants into crown form. You can even use a thin pool noodle if you want! Rowan, elder, ash, and oak branches could make excellent forms. I like to use local vines from my garden to form my wreath frame.
  • Select any plants that you think of as protective. There are thousands upon thousands of plants that serve as protective guardians. Pick whatever works for you.
  • I like to use white cotton twine, leather straps, or red thread for my wreaths. Use whatever works best for you. Florist wire is certainly worth consideration if you’re working with especially large or tough materials.

Happy casting!

Candle Spell (7) Money Growth (Spell Saturday #1)

Happy Spell Saturday!  I always say that the best place for a practitioner to start is with a money spell so we’ll start Spell Saturday off with one! This spell is straight out of Judika Illes’ Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, page 809.

To grow your money and reach a monetary goal.

green-candle

What you’ll need:

  • A green candle. perhaps dressed to your desires.
  • Something to carve the candle with such as a knife
  • Large based candle holder or saucer.
  • Enough coins to circle the candle and fill the candle holder or saucer.
  • Something to light the candle with

The spell is written as thus:

1. Carve and dress a green candle to express your desires

2. Place it on a saucer

3. Arrange coins around the base of the candle.

4. Light the candle and chant:

Money grown, money flow

Candle burn, watch me earn

Money grow, money flow

Flame shine

What I want is mine!

Expected results:

Usually after this spell I’ll see an immediate bump in my shop sales or will suddenly find really good deals in things I want to buy or even be given money. It usually starts within a few days of the spell and fades out in a couple of months.

spells and herbs

Notes:

You can use a white candle in exchange for a green one. I tend to use votive candles because they’re thick enough to take being carved but burn fairly quickly. You can dress the candle with money drawing oils, waters, powders, or herbs. If you’re going to use herbs or powders, make sure only the candle wax near the edge of the candle and away from the wick has the herbs or powders or you risk setting the whole spell ablaze. Carve the candle with what you want to happen. Example: I’ll have enough money to pay rent, bills, and buy food each month and have a little extra left over. 

Candle plates are a great investment for practitioners but any stoneware plate or metal container can be used for this purpose.

The coins can also be dressed with money-drawing herbs, powders, oils, and waters. I like the use the largest denomination of coins I can find with my birth year.

You can also add herbs or incense to the bottom of the plate to help out your spell.

I find the above chant to be a little too… much for me when I cast it. I also feel it isn’t specific enough. You can add clauses of when this spell starts and ends at will. I tend to alter the chant as follows:

As this candle burns, money will flow in my direction

When this candle dies, my money will continue to grow

Money will flow to me, my money will continue to grow.

If you use intent specific envisioning, you’ll want to envision your bank account growing and that your carved desire coming to life.

Happy casting!

Introducing Spell Saturdays!

With witches comes spells right? (Well, usually).

Spells are extremely commonplace in most witchcraft practices but finding the right spell for the job is one of the most difficult task a practitioner can have. Everyday I get spell requests from both practitioners and people looking just to dip their toe in magic. Some folks don’t know where to look for spells, don’t know how to write a spell, or just want another practitioner’s opinion on if a spell would work.

So I’m really excited to announce Spell Saturdays! Every Saturday This Crooked Crown will be publishing a spell. This spell might be on any topic from money spells to love to curses. The spells will be sourced so you can look them up later if you want but they may also be original works. Each spell will be tagged accordingly and added to appropriate pages so you can find them later.

Spells can be easily found but do they work? How to you adapt them? Where did they come from? Can you substitute X for Y? These questions may very easily crop up when looking at spells. So, I’ll only post spells that have been tried by myself or trusted colleagues. With these spells will includes notes we made while casting those spells as well as suggestions for each spell on how to adapt it for your needs!

I hope this will be a really fun experience for everyone. Finding spells can be really difficult and sometimes just knowing what to expect and how someone else has adapted a spell can make you feel so much more confident in casting the spell to begin with. Happy casting!

 

 

Where to Start?

“Where do I start if I want to practice witchcraft/magic?” I get that question all the time, especially over on tumblr.

My first questions to them are as follow:

  • What are you looking for?
  • What are you interested in?
  • Are you looking for a religion?
  • Are you looking for a path to follow?
  • Are you looking for guidance?
  • Are you looking to affect the world around you?
  • What do you believe?
  • Do you want to work with others or in a group?
  • Do you want to make up things yourself or would you prefer to follow someone else’s lead?
  • How much academic studying do you want to do?
  • Are you looking for something with historical precedent or something more modern?

The last question is especially important. Knowing, or at least exploring, how the world works and how you believe the world works is incredibly important to to establishing UPG – unverified personal gnosis. Now UPG is commonly misused within the community. Most people take it as UPE – unverified personal experience. The mistake is easy to make but the difference is incredibly important: gnosis refers to something that is a foundation belief, something critical to your worldview. An example would be the knowledge that your deity is masculine rather than feminine. I use knowledge because UPG is often a knowledge, absolute faith. You KNOW that the UPG is true. It is the very basis of your world-view. It’s canon to you. UPE is you have this experience that you’re certain is real and happened but it’s not essential to you. [1]

Now that’s a lot of technical jargon that boils down to this: you don’t have to know what it is that you believe but you almost certainly believe something and you need to be willing to explore that.

Now I believe in magic. I KNOW it to be real. I’ve seen it work, I’ve used it. I’ts part of the heart of my UPG. What magic is, precisely, is an entirely different topic I won’t get into, primarily because we don’t know. My answer is different than others and their answer is different too. Various paths define it somewhat differently. [2]

All of the above isn’t the point and most certainly isn’t exactly what you’re here for. You’re here for a how to of where to start and what “rules” there are for it. And here they are:

“Rules” or the stuff you need to know about before you begin:

  • Practicing magic or witchcraft is a personal choice.
  • There are NO qualifying markers to decide who is an isn’t a witch or who is or isn’t practicing magic. If you define your practice as such, then it is. Similarly, do NOT label someone a title such as witch unless they identify as one. It’s rude at least and deeply offensive at worst. [3]
  • You have NO right to information. You have NO right to appropriate from native cultures or religions, especially if those cultures or religions have requested otherwise.
  • Cultural appropriation is a thing and you should know about it. [4]
  • Sexism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, agism, predators, pedophiles, rapists, crepes, criminals, and sex offenders absolutely DOES exist in the community. They exist in ALL communities. Ignoring the issues because you want to promote a good image is negligent at best and criminal at worst.
  • Critical thinking is absolutely critical. So is critical reading. For many practices and paths, research and proper research is important and even necessary. Don’t trust everything you read and question everything. [5, 6, 7]
  • There is no Pope of witchcraft or magic. There are NO rules. There is no ONE deity or pantheon “we” must follow.
  • The Rede and Karma does not work the way you probably think it does. And they are not universal but specific to traditional Wiccan and Hinduism, respectively.
  • Wicca does not equal witchcraft and witchcraft does not equal Wicca. Witchcraft is an art, science, and technical skill of a witch while Wicca is a religion. One necessitates a religious foundation and and the other is entirely secular from it. Witchcraft can be added to most, if not all, religious practices. Witchcraft and magic are not nature-religions. They can be incorporated into a nature religion, however.
  • Books on history, superstitions, folklore, mythology, and anthropology are often keystones to many researchers. Those people who write those accessible 101 books? Those topics are the ones they gleam their information from.
  • Many practitioners takes years to develop their practice, some even take decades. Others can develop their practice in a few months. Progress as fast as you need to.
  • Remember while you may have a divine, known UPG truth of the world, it is RELATIVE. Your truth is not my truth and thus you don’t get to force your beliefs on others.

That’s the basic information you’ll want to know before you begin. This is the basis of how we generate conversation and how to start separating the bullshit from the good stuff.

Now, got that covered? Here’s what you need to do to start practicing witchcraft or magic:

  • Ask questions. Even if you have a stupid sounding one, ask it. Ask it to different people. Ask it of yourself.
  • Read everything. Well, not everything but go ahead and read topics that interest you and articles that are in opposition of what you believe. It can at least let you know what other people are talking about and at most will inspire you to new things.
  • Explore. Do you like the ocean? Ask sea witches what they do and read fisherman’s superstitions. Like cooking? Explore kitchen magic. You don’t need to focus on one thing. Witchcraft can very much be defined into separate categories like sea witchery or kitchen magic but it doesn’t have to be (and, likewise, you can absolutely just focus on one aspect and ignore everything else.)
  • If you want rules, restrictions, or a specific THING to follow, try a define tradition such as Wicca or another religion.
  • You can absolutely make up your own path. I’ve been doing it for close to twenty years.
  • Be afraid to make mistakes. Misspeaking a word in a spell will 99.9999999999% of the time result is absolutely no changes from the original intent.
  • Gods, spirits, guides, and people lie. They can be malicious. They can hurt you. And they can do it just for the fun of it. Don’t trust anyone just because they say they have your best interest at heart. They almost certainly have a game plan. Also, you don’t need them to practice witchcraft or magic and you can worship deities without magic or writchcraft.
  • Don’t buy things in one go. Witch kits are often useful but I’ve seen far too many practitioners going into stores with lists of things and you end up not needing half of it. Start small and cheap and pick up things as you go. In addition to being gentler on the wallet, each new piece added to you practice will mean that much more to you. You don’t need an altar or a work space or tools, but many find them useful or important to their practice.
  • Find a teacher. There are absolutely people out there that teach witchcraft or magic. i’m one of them. Most often they require payment of some kind or another in return for their time. This isn’t an option for everyone and sometimes not one you’ll want. I, for example, never wanted a teacher. I wanted to learn and hone my craft myself.
  • Find a coven, community, or group. This, again, might not be for everyone but it could be for some. You can learn things from one another and can always leave if you don’t like it.
  • Go ahead and jump right in. You don’t have to be serious business about it all right now. Just try your hand at it and see what happens.

Yeah, yeah, but that’s not STUFF. That’s not spells and shit. There’s no magic there.

Here’s the magic how to:

  • Starting with a protection spell is probably the safest way to start… but money spells are the way to go to prove it works. Do both and enjoy the outcome!
  • Energy manipulation is an easy way to learn a lot about what people talk about with energy.
  • Offerings of water, clear alcohol like vodka, incense, bread, or honey are good for a basic offering to any deity or spirit.

That’s it? Yeah, that’s it. If you want to do spells, just jump the hell in. There’s more background information to be known than anything else.

Other things you really should read that will help (besides my resources)

Now, as mentioned in a previous post, I am working on getting up online classes for witchcraft. It’s a slow process as I’m a rather spontaneous teacher that prefers to adapt to a singular student rather than a unknown group but it’s still happening. Also, beginners can always ask me question here or on any media form I’m in.

Sources:

  1. What does UPG mean? http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/56115685958/what-does-upg-mean-ive-never-heard-the-term-except-on
  2. Rambling on This Crooked Crown’s personal belief on what magic is: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/67771760381/what-would-you-say-makes-spells-work-youve-said-its
  3. Scroll down to read my breakdown of this post: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/26522396392/deep-within-your-belly-come-all-witches-be-one
  4. Rant on Cultural Appropriation: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/18294572929/a-pseudo-rant-on-appropriation-in-paganism-and-research (check the notes).
  5. On critical thinking and reading: http://thiscrookedcrown.tumblr.com/post/39901394182/okay-this-may-sound-really-really-dumb-but-how-do
  6. Hellboundwitch’s how to read a fucking book: http://blog.hellboundwitch.com/post/27502384651/how-to-read-a-fucking-book-i-cant-teach-you-how-to
  7. Spiritscraft’s how to read a 101 pagan book: http://spiritscraft.tumblr.com/post/27508266438/how-to-read-a-101-pagan-wicca-witchcraft-book