Witchery: Embrace the Witch Within - Juliet Diaz 2019
Creating Your Own Spells
The Witch’s Garden of Herbal Magick
Why would you want to create your own spells when there are a gazillion spells already out there? Well, for starters, they’re not yours. They don’t carry as much power as they would if you created them yourself. Your own spell will be infused with something nobody else’s spell has: your own inner Magick! Your own thoughts, feelings, energy, intuition, intentions, and your very essence go into every spell you create yourself. That makes for some pretty powerful Magick.
Creating a spell is like baking a delicious cake — you get to choose the ingredients based on the outcome you want. On your first attempt it may not metaphorically look or taste exactly the way you hoped, but with lots of practice you’ll get the result you want.
Here is a guide to the steps involved when crafting a spell. Eventually this process will become as natural to you as breathing.
Think about the aim of your spell
Be clear about the intention of your spell from the start. What do you wish to accomplish with it? As a novice, stick to just one intent for each spell and try to be specific. If it’s a spell for protection, what kind of protection? Where is this protection needed? Who is the protection for? And so on. Write everything down and keep breaking it open until you feel you’ve reached the clearest intent for the spell.
Gather your tools and ingredients
Here’s the fun part! Begin to think about and collect the ingredients, tools, and any other items you’ll need to create your spell. Think of the Elements you wish to include, and the correspondences. Your spell doesn’t need to be extravagant or involve a ton of ingredients or tools. It’s best to keep it simple, and focus on the things that will work best to manifest the intent of the spell.
Write down your spell
It’s time for you to write your spell! You may want to cast your spell during a certain phase of the Moon, or a particular day of the week or special time, so consider this before you start writing. If you want to use words with your spell, either out loud or in your head, start with something simple; don’t go too fancy at this point. After you’ve practiced your spell and memorized what you want to say, you can, if you wish, adapt the words so that they rhyme — I call this poetic tongue. This makes the spell easier to remember and raises more energy.
I myself don’t write words to go with my spells as I’ve always been able to cast them by speaking only with my energy. This requires extreme focus and you need to be in full control of the emotions, feelings, and energies within and surrounding you. Even so, I always write down my spells in my Witch’s Journal, so I have a record of the process even if it doesn’t involve any words.
Take time to memorize the process of your spell, too, including the items needed and what to do with them. In doing so you add spirit to the spell because you’re internalizing it. You’ll then have it living within you, and there is nothing more powerful than that.
Prepare your space and yourself
Now that you’ve created your spell, it’s time to get ready to cast it. Find a space that is completely quiet and where you won’t be disturbed. Light candles and burn herbs, resin, or incense to establish a spell-casting space. Use whatever colors and scents connect with you at this moment to help you focus. Cleanse yourself and your space (see Cleansing and Protecting), then sit down on a chair or the floor and ground yourself. Allow your mind to come to a place of stillness. You want to remove all outside influences and noise before starting.
Do Magick!
When you’re ready, raise energy for your spell and spill your Magick with confidence — pour your soul into it! Be mindful of practices such as raising energy and grounding, and reapply them during the casting process if necessary.
When you’re done with your Magickal workings dispose of materials, such as your burnt herbs and candles, by burying them in dirt. Cleanse the space, yourself, and all the tools you used.
Store your tools in a dedicated area — this can be anything from a tiny corner of your dresser to a full table. When I was younger and in college I kept my tools in a chest under my bed. Anywhere is fine — just make sure to keep it clean and clear of stagnant energy.
Learn from your experience
Make sure you take notes on how the spell-casting went. Write them in your Grimoire if you’ve started one. Take note of the feelings, energies, pulls and pushes, messages if any came, and how your body felt and reacted, and so on. Remember that many spells don’t work right away. They take time to manifest, especially for new Witches, as it takes time to build your power to its highest potential. It might be a week, or even a month, before you observe any changes or shifts. Also, the greater the spell’s purpose, the more time it may take to manifest, so take that into account.
There is and always will be practice involved in our craft, and this speaks loudly when it comes to spell-casting. Work no more than one spell a week, because a key part of casting spells is observation and taking note of the outcome so you can go back and make adjustments. You need time to do this before embarking on a new spell.
