Llewellyn's 2018 Magical Almanac: Practical Magic for Everyday Living - Team of authors 2017

Magickal Crafting by Melanie Marquis
Earth Magic

Magick is a craft. It’s a hands-on, creative, and personal practice much like knitting, painting, woodworking, or any other crafty or artistic endeavor. If you like magick and you also enjoy crafting, combining the two creates a powerful medium for expressing and manifesting your most heartfelt wishes and intentions. When we’re making something, be it a piece of folk art or a fancy dinner, the physical action of our hands at work unites with the creative ability of the mind and the emotional aspects of the spirit, completing a circuit that brings our personal power to full capacity and allows this energy to flow freely throughout the body and into the object being created.

Despite the effort and concentration required, creative work—like magickal work—is usually invigorating and exhilarating rather than exhausting. This is because with crafting or with magick, you are putting energy into a closed, complete system rather than into an open-ended system where the return from your efforts may never materialize. The energy you put into a magick spell or into a creative work yields definite and apparent results. Something new has been created, and the power inherent in this new creation is equal to or even greater than the energy expended to create it.

For people who have trouble staying focused or really getting into it when casting spells, magickal crafting can be an effective way to stay engaged and interested in the magickal process. As you craft, a spell is woven, and the end result is a tangible item that will anchor and fortify the magick all the further.

Turning Crafts into Magick Crafts

There are many ways to infuse magick into the crafting process, from enchanting the tools of your craft to empowering your final creation. The particulars of your craft will suggest specific ways to bring magick into the process, but there are a few things anyone can do that will transform any crafting project into a creative act of magick.

One way to infuse magick into your arts and crafts is to enchant the tools and supplies you’ll be using for your project. You can do so through a process called “empowering” or “charging.” Everything on earth, including your crafting supplies, has an electrical pulse or vibration. When you empower or charge an object, you are altering, magnifying, and focusing this pulse so that it resonates in harmony with the energetic vibration of your magickal goal.

For instance, if you were planning to embroider a magickal charm for prosperity, you might choose to use green thread, as this color is often associated with wealth and abundance. To further align the thread with your intentions, you could empower it by holding it in your hands as you envision a great flow of wealth and conjure in your heart the emotions that this prosperity will bring. Send these emotionally charged thoughts into the thread, and it’s fully charged and ready for use in your craft.

You might prefer instead to write down your intentions on a piece of paper and place the supplies on top of the paper to absorb the energy of your intentions.

Or you might choose to empower each of your crafting tools and supplies to represent different aspects of your spell. If you were to build a porch swing to encourage and support family unity, you might, for example, empower the nails and screws with the energy of unbreakable bonds, enchant the wood to magnify its naturally strong and tenacious energies, and infuse the chains with a vibe of flexibility and cooperation.

Dedicate Your Tools

If you have any primary tools of your craft that you expect to use again and again for many magickal crafting projects, you might consider empowering these tools to be in perfect harmony with you, rather than aligning them to specific magickal goals.

You might design a personalized ritual in which you dedicate yourself and your special crafting tools to the highest pursuits you can dream of achieving. Are you a painter who wants to create art that inspires psychic sensitivity? A moonlit ritual with just you and your paintbrushes might be the perfect setting for affirming your ambitions. Do you knit hats to share with those in need of warmth and comfort? A customized ritual in your cozy living room surrounded by friends could be a great way to enchant your knitting needles with an energy of loving friendship. However you choose to enchant them, your crafting tools will impart their energies into whatever you create.

As you work on your craft, think of yourself as a master of magick, assembling just the right pieces to create the circumstances, opportunities, and resources you desire. When it’s finished, reaffirm your intentions and consider your creation a physical representation of your magickal goal.

Taking Care of Crafts

Take good care of your magickal crafts, noticing them often and keeping them in good repair. Once the original aim of the spellcraft has been accomplished, you can reprogram the craft with a new magickal purpose. Simply clean it gently to clear away the old magick, then infuse it with your emotionally charged thoughts so that it resonates with your new intention.

You might consider making magick crafts to mark the change of seasons, or make it a regular hobby that you do daily or monthly to relieve stress and keep your skills fresh. You might create magickal crafts to help you connect with desired energies or to give yourself an extra little push toward success. Magickal crafts also make wonderful gifts to share with very special friends and loved ones.

Magickal crafting doesn’t require a whole lot of artistic expertise, so don’t be afraid to give it a shot even if you don’t consider yourself the artistic type. All that is needed is the desire to try out a new mode of magick and an open mind.