The Modern Witchcraft Spell Book: Your Complete Guide to Crafting and Casting Spells - Skye Alexander 2015
The Art of Spellwork
Spellworking Basics
Magick is the art of creating change in accordance with your will. It’s also what happens when you manipulate energy to produce a result, using methods that conventional science can’t explain. Witches, wizards, shamans, and others who work with the magickal forces of the universe sometimes add the letter “K” to the word magic to distinguish it from stage illusion, card tricks, and the like.
Many people think that magick, witchcraft, and the process of casting spells are weird—maybe even a little spooky or evil. Unfortunately, for centuries suspicion, skepticism, confusion, and fear have muddied the magickal waters and interfered with the widespread use of spells to attract health, wealth, happiness, and all the other good things in life. The truth is, nothing is more natural than doing a spell. A long tradition of spellworking exists in most cultures, including Western culture. People from all walks of life have engaged in magick and spellworking for millennia, for myriad purposes. Today, curiosity about the art of spellcasting is growing rapidly—and as we gain more knowledge and become more familiar with magickal practices, the scary factor diminishes.
You’ve probably already cast spells without knowing it. For instance, wearing a ring set with your birthstone is an ancient good luck spell. Maybe you’ve wished upon a star or made a wish before blowing out candles on a birthday cake. In essence, wishing for something really, really hard is a kind of spell. If you want something badly enough, and you think about it constantly, you send out energy to attract that new reality you seek and help it come into being.
Daydreams aren’t spells, however. The difference boils down to what spellcasters call intent. Intent means determining your objective and then performing an action with awareness, consciously channeling energy and emotion into the action in order to produce a result. Throughout this book, we’ll talk about intent, focusing energy, creating images, and fueling your spells with emotion and willpower, for these are the keys to doing successful magick.
Avoid Obsession
Obsessing over a desire or need can actually prevent you from getting what you want. If you keep desperately hoping that your wish will come true, you exhibit doubt. And doubt squelches a spell’s success like water poured on a fire.
WHAT, EXACTLY, IS A SPELL?
Simply put, a spell is something you do with clarity, intent, and awareness to generate a result. A spell consists of a set of thoughts and symbolic actions performed in the physical world to initiate change on a higher level. Once a change takes place at that higher level, it filters down and materializes here on earth. When you do a spell, you alter a situation by introducing new energy or rearranging the energy that’s already present.
Spells and Religion
A spell is not a religious act—although as you begin casting spells you may notice similarities in the actions you perform and the practices used by some religions. Spellcasting is a method; it’s a secular activity with no dogma attached to it. Many religions use spells—or a form of energy transference or energy management—as part of worship, although they probably wouldn’t describe it that way. For example, in Chapter 5, when we discuss affirmations and incantations, you might see a relation between these verbal spells and prayers.
When doing a spell, you are the agent of change. You draw upon your own resources to gather and direct energy. You make it happen, and you take responsibility for your actions and their results. You may request assistance from a higher power to accomplish your objective, if you wish. Or you may bring in the energies of various substances, such as plants and gemstones, to augment your own powers. Ultimately, though, you’re the writer, director, and producer.
WHY USE SPELLS?
People perform spells for a variety of reasons. Crafting and casting a spell allows you to take control of a situation—you no longer have to sit and wait for life to sort itself out. Spellwork is an active method of dealing with life, instead of passively accepting what comes your way. Engaging in spellwork can boost your confidence—there’s nothing quite like seeing one of your spells materialize. Your self-esteem ratchets up a few notches, and you realize that you possess power you never knew you had before. However, if you just do spells to impress your friends or make yourself seem more important, you’re missing out on magick’s greater value.
Spellcraft also exercises your creativity. You might not be able to play the saxophone or paint a masterpiece or win a flamenco dance competition, but you can craft a web of energy from a variety of objects and words, linked together by intent and desire, and cast that web out into the cosmos to draw your goal to you. Anyone can do spells, and everyone possesses magickal ability. Spellcraft combines the use of imagination, language, and action in a variety of ways, and the way you put it all together will be unique to you.
Spells aren’t only about getting what you want, though—they can also be about giving back. You can raise positive energy and send it out into the world, as a way to say “thank you” for all the good things in your own life. You can do spells for other people, too, to aid them in their life journeys. Affirming your blessings and offering assistance to others can help you to draw more blessings to you. You can even do spells to heal the planet, encourage world peace, and other far-reaching objectives.
THE BENEFITS OF SPELLCASTING
Everything in our universe is composed of energy. As you craft and cast spells, you’ll come to understand the flow of energy and its presence in and around you. Spellwork teaches you how energy moves, how you can handle it, and how you can direct it into various areas of your life. Once you understand how energy behaves, you can tap into it via different methods—that’s what magick is all about.
Spellcraft is a deeply transformative process that touches the magician as well as her environment. Spells and magick are intended to make our lives happier and easier. However, if you think you can use spells to avoid work, forget it—you can’t just twitch your nose and make your vacuum cleaner spiff up your home. Spellwork involves effort and dedication, particularly when you first begin, as you acquire new information and explore new techniques. Like everything else, it requires learning the principles and then practicing until you get it right—you must put energy into the equation if you want your outcomes to manifest.
That’s not to say spellwork is onerous—anything but! It’s a joyful and enlivening experience, one that may actually leave you feeling more vital and content after finishing a spell than you did before you began. Just the act of connecting with parts of yourself to which you ordinarily don’t pay much attention can be exhilarating. You discover new strengths and abilities. Plus, knowing that you are linked with the other entities that share your world can give you a sense of belonging to a greater whole, a magickal universe with infinite possibilities.
Spellwork also helps you gain clarity and purpose. First of all, you must determine a precise goal. Often we think we know what we want, but we rarely take the time to seriously think about how deeply we desire something, and why—or how our lives will change if we get our heart’s desire. You have to be completely honest with yourself in order to cast a successful spell, otherwise your hidden agendas may interfere or even materialize. If you do not have a defined goal, you’ll end up throwing energy at a vague objective, wasting most of it. If you’re confused or ambivalent about your intent, you’ll get mixed results. Your spell won’t succeed, or will succeed only partially.
By doing spells, you come to know yourself better. You learn to sift through the superficial and get to what really matters—and that benefits every part of your life.
HOW DO SPELLS WORK?
Everything in the world possesses an energy signature of some kind. Organic objects contain more energy than inorganic objects. A piece of wool or silk fabric, for instance, will hold more energy than a piece of polyester. The closer an organic object is to its natural state, the higher its energy. For example, a tree rooted in the wild has more energy than a stack of lumber created from that tree, and a varnished table built from that lumber retains even less of the tree’s original energy.
All the energy possessed by these objects reaches out to connect with other energies. A web of energy links the physical and nonphysical worlds. That means you and I and everything else have a connection that enables us to communicate with one another, and, through the power of magick, to work together to consciously create our reality. When we seek to influence a situation by doing spells, we tweak the energy in one location, and that tweak sends ripples all over the web. A common metaphor is that of a spider’s web. No matter where a spider sits on her web, when an insect strikes it the tiny shocks travel through all the strands of the web to alert her that she has a visitor for tea. Like the spider’s web, strands of energy connect everyone and everything, enabling us to send out our intentions and receive input from our surroundings.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPELLCRAFTING AND SPELLCASTING?
Spellcrafting and spellcasting are integrally connected, but they also have certain distinctions. To give a simple explanation, spellcrafting is the practice of fabricating the spell. You think about what you want to accomplish, gather ingredients to include in the spell, write down your objective, figure out the steps you’ll take, and so on. Then you put it all together. It’s a bit like preparing a recipe—and in fact, culinary recipes can be spells, as you’ll learn in Part II of this book.
When you release the energy you’ve raised during the spellcrafting stage, you “cast” the spell. You send the energy and your intention out into the universe, so that your intention can manifest. Here’s another analogy: Crafting the spell is like designing and assembling an automobile, whereas casting the spell is like driving the car. When you cast the spell, you put it to work.
WHERE CAN YOU USE SPELLS?
People use spells in every area of life, for all sorts of reasons. You can use magick spells for just about anything. However, spells for prosperity, love, health, and protection tend to be the most popular. In Part II of this book, you’ll find dozens of spells that address these issues, and more.
One reason many of us don’t enjoy the riches, well-being, and happiness we could is that we don’t feel we deserve them. That lack of self-worth results in lack elsewhere in life. It can also sabotage your magickal workings. Perhaps you’ve heard of something called the Law of Attraction. This says that you attract what you think about. If you’re constantly worrying about how you’re going to pay your bills, if you see something you want but say to yourself “I can’t afford that,” your thoughts are about insufficiency. You think of yourself as being poor. Consequently, you attract poverty and lack. Before you can receive the blessings you desire, you must shift your thinking to prosperity consciousness. You must consider yourself worthy of obtaining your dreams and believe you can attain them.
“If you feel you are poor, you cannot attract prosperity.”
ESTHER AND JERRY HICKS, MONEY, AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
Let’s set something straight right now: Spellworking isn’t selfish or greedy. When you do a spell to attract money or success or love, you aren’t robbing anyone else of those goodies. The universe has plenty for everyone. Fulfilling your basic needs enables you to explore the higher potential of your life—your creativity, your spiritual calling, and so forth. When you no longer have to worry about having food, shelter, and the basic needs in order to survive on planet Earth, you can devote yourself to “loftier” goals that may benefit others as well as you.
As you become more proficient at doing spells, and you begin to see your spells materialize, you’ll likely gain more self-confidence. If you’re not sure of your abilities yet, it might help to start small. If you can’t imagine manifesting $1 million, try a smaller sum, perhaps $100. Don’t let yourself get stuck at a level below what’s possible, though, because truly anything is within your grasp. The universe can just as easily give you something big as something little—but you have to be open to accepting it.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SPELL AND A RITUAL?
Sometimes the words spell and ritual are used interchangeably, but they are two very different things. Yes, there’s some overlap, and that can make things confusing. Think of it this way:
✵ When you do a spell, you use your mind, emotions, will, and natural powers to bring about an internal or external result.
✵ When you do a ritual, you perform a series of actions designed for a particular purpose.
In the secular world, we engage in rituals all the time, from dressing for work in the morning to readying ourselves for bed at night. Some secular rituals have traditional aspects, such as donning your favorite sports team’s colors at homecoming, painting your face, and packing your cooler with plenty of beer. Spiritual rituals are often performed to honor a higher power or to celebrate your connection with that power, but they may have other purposes as well. A spell can be a part of a ritual, and a lengthy, detailed spell may include ritual actions, as well as interaction with deities.
BASIC STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL SPELLWORK
Although every spell is different, most involve a series of steps, as outlined here, or some version of them. Following these steps not only increases your likelihood of success, it also decreases your chance of mix-ups. An athlete wouldn’t run a marathon without stretching first, nor would a surgeon perform a procedure without sterilizing his hands. The same holds true for spellwork. Setting the stage, cleansing your tools, and above all, preparing your mind are important to the success of your spells. Each step of a spell serves a purpose, and they all lead to your desired outcome.
1. Silence all distractions. Turn off the TV, phone, etc. Tell other people who won’t be participating in the spell not to bother you—put a Do Not Disturb sign on your door. Put pets in a place where they won’t demand your attention or upset your activity. You need to keep your attention focused on your task in order to produce good results. Additionally, when you do a spell, you move from mundane space into magickal space—being jerked back from that magickal place by some outside interference can be jarring, like being shaken out of a peaceful sleep.
2. Establish your intention. Unless you have a clearly defined reason for doing a spell, don’t bother. It’s simply a waste of time and energy, and your efforts may go awry. Write down your intention—this helps clarify your objective and starts the process of moving it out of your mind, into physical form. If you’ll be working with other people, discuss your intention together beforehand so everyone understands what you’re doing and why. It’s essential that you’re all in agreement and that you all focus on the same intention; otherwise, you might get mixed results.
3. Compose your spell. Think about your desired outcome and what energies you wish to harness in order to help you achieve this outcome. Write down what you’ll do in your spell and the steps with which you’ll proceed. If you plan to use an affirmation or incantation, make sure you either memorize it or write it down. (You’ll learn more about this in Chapter 5.) If you’ll be working with other people, go over the steps and details beforehand, so everyone is in accord and feels comfortable with his or her role.
4. Collect all the ingredients necessary for your spell. Cleanse each item, either by washing it with mild soap and water or by “smudging” it in the smoke of burning sage or incense. Bring all the objects you’ll use into the space where you’ll perform your spell. Ritual tools should have been consecrated beforehand (you’ll learn more about these tools in Chapter 6). If you’ll work with other spellcasters, decide whose tools will be used in the spell and who will wield them.
5. Establish your spellworking space. First, cleanse the area where you’ll perform your spell. You can do this by smudging it with smoke from burning sage or incense or by sweeping it with a broom or both. Sometimes imagining the area filled with pure white light may be enough. Invite everyone who will participate to enter the space, and then cast a circle around it. (We’ll discuss this in depth in Chapter 3.) A magick circle provides an energetic barrier that keeps unwanted energies out and holds desired energies in.
6. Shift your consciousness. Light a candle or incense, meditate, or do whatever helps you shift your thinking from mundane to magickal. From this point on, try not to let any ordinary thoughts intrude into your elevated mental state. If you’re working with other people, don’t talk unless you’re chanting an affirmation or performing another verbal part of your spell.
7. Raise energy. Some people do this by chanting, humming, drumming, breathing deeply, or dancing—do what feels right to you. Envision yourself drawing energy up from the earth and into your body; also draw energy from the heavens down into your body, and let them blend within you. You’ll sense your awareness change—you might feel more energized, calm, aware, centered, sensitive, tingly, or something else. If you’re working with other people, allow your individual energies to merge for the term of the spell. (We’ll discuss this more in later chapters.)
8. If you choose, invite other entities to participate in your spell. Angelic presences, spirit guides and guardians, totem animals, ancestors, elementals, and other nonphysical beings can provide protection and assistance during spellwork. (We’ll talk more about working with spirit beings in Chapter 7.)
9. Perform your spell, according to the plan you designed earlier.
10. After completing your spell, release the entities who’ve assisted you (if any) and thank them.
11. Open the circle. (You’ll learn how in Chapter 3.) Send the energy you’ve raised during your spellwork toward your goal, and trust that it will materialize at the proper time, in the proper way.
12. Dismantle your magickal space. Extinguish the candles, collect your tools and any other items you brought into the circle, etc. Store your tools in a safe place until you choose to work with them again.
13. The final step is manifestation—this is when you achieve your goal.
In your book of shadows (your personal journal of spells), write down what you did and what ingredients/tools you used when you performed the spell, as well as what you felt, sensed, thought, witnessed, and so on. If you’re working with other spellcasters, you may wish to discuss what transpired, how you felt about the spell and its enactment, and what (if anything) you might do differently in the future.