A Witches Bible - Janet Farrar, Stewar Farrar 1981

Spells
The Wiccan Path
Principles, Rituals and Beliefs of Modern Witchcraft

A spell is a ritual for raising psychic power and directing it to a specific and practical purpose. It is fuelled by vivid imagination and concentrated willpower; and what sceptics usually describe as the ’mumbo-jumbo’ of a spell is in fact a dramatization to activate these two and is thus a perfectly reasonable way of going about it.

To take an example: the famous ’wax image’ spell, which is almost the only one that non-witches seem to have heard of. They associate it with sinister activities such as the sticking in of nails, pins or thorns to harm the intended victim; and of course it can be used malevolently in this way. But ’white’ witches use it responsibly — which means in practice that they confine it to healing work and where necessary to the ’binding’ of someone who is acting malevolently.

As is normal in Wiccan practice, the image spell is best worked by a woman-man partnership, though the whole coven may usefully support them in it. The image may be of wax, Plasticene or any convenient material, and the entire object of the exercise is to identify it as closely as possible with the person concerned. It should look like him or her (we will stick to ’him’ for brevity), but it need not be conventionally artistic; for instance, if visualization is helped by incorporating a photograph of his face in the front of the head, by all means do so. If some of his hair-clippings or nail-clippings can be incorporated, this is both traditional and useful, because it helps to make the mental identification more dramatically vivid, and also provides a psychic link on the resonance principle. The image should be naked and unmistakably male or female.

Some witches pierce the core of the image with a skewer and pack the cavity with cotton wool soaked in Planetary Condenser, a fluid prepared by dunking scraps of metal, to represent the various planetary influences, in water. For ourselves, we do not find this necessary, and the skewering weakens the image structurally. But there is something to be said for incorporating a living substance of some kind, and the traditional, non-sacrificial substance is raw egg, as fresh as possible. (This use of fresh raw egg as a ’non-sacrificial living sacrifice’ is worth remembering for other purposes.) A little of this in a small cavity inside the chest, where the heart would be, is preferable to the skewered tunnel.

Both partners, and everyone else who is taking part, should be involved in some way, however small, in the making of the image. It should be made inside a Magic Circle.

When the image is ready, the partners take it to the altar and sprinkle it with consecrated water-and-salt, saying: ’We name thee — , in the names of Cernunnos and Aradia’ (or whatever God- and Goddess-names are being used). The image is left on the pentacle, while everybody involved dances to the Witches’ Rune to build up the power.

The woman then lays herself down face upwards in the centre of the Circle in the pentagram position, head to the North. The man takes a red cord and ties the middle of it round the image, one end round his own waist, and the other end round the woman’s waist.

Now the couple ’conceive’ and ’give birth to’ the image. Just how vividly and dramatically this is done depends on the couple’s imagination and the nature of their everyday relationship: the enactment can be anything from purely symbolic to wholeheartedly ’actual’ (the latter, of course, in private); what matters is that it should be done with concentrated willpower and visualization of the intent. (We have known a woman witch to ’suckle’ the image immediately afterwards; dramatically effective, but it might possibly have the psychic side-effect of setting up an unwanted dependence of the ’patient’ on the woman, and leading to a form of vampirism, so perhaps it is better avoided.)

Next, the man unties the cord from the woman’s waist and carries the image, still attached to himself, to the altar. With his athame, he makes the Invoking Pentagram of Earth in front of the image. He then removes the cord from the image and from his own waist.

The partners, or the group, then sit facing each other, and each in turn (the woman, the man and then any others) holds the image. Each addresses it by name and gives it the appropriate healing words and treatment or, in the case of a binding spell, precise and carefully worded orders. In both cases, the image is treated, spoken to and thought of as the living person concerned. It is then given any symbolic treatment necessary, such as sewing up the mouth if the person is to be stopped from spreading malice. Finally, it is bound with cord, and wrapped in cloth, of the appropriate colour (red for organic healing, blue for functional healing, black for a binding spell, and so on.

When the Circle is being banished, the wrapped image will be carried by someone behind the banisher, as with newly consecrated objects.

After this the wrapped image is taken away and hidden in a secret place, safe from handling, and kept there for as long as the effect of the spell is needed. At times it may be felt that it needs recharging; you should then unwrap it, draw down the power on it with your athame (repeating the orders or healing words), re-wrap it and return it to its hiding-place. This should be done inside a Circle, mental or actual.

An image which has been identified with a person and used in an image spell should never be left in existence once the aim has been achieved or the term of the spell has ended — even if the spell has failed. The image should be dispersed by taking it to natural running water, unwrapping and unbinding it and breaking it up into small pieces, each of which is thrown into the water with the order: ’Return to the elements from which thou camest.’

This spell includes all the essential elements of spell-working: dramatization, imagination, identification, precise intent, willpower and the disposal of loose ends. More elements can be taken into consideration to enhance the effect. For example, you could work a healing spell if possible during the waxing or full Moon, and in the day and hour of Mercury or Jupiter or a binding spell during the waning or new Moon and in the day and hour of Saturn. You could also choose appropriate incense and music, and so on. (For the planetary days and hours, see What Witches Do, Appendix 3, or Barrett’s Magus Book II, Part IV.)

But a spell can be very much simpler than this, while still following the same principles. For example, suppose you want to bring together two people who are having difficulty communicating. You might consecrate and name two chess pieces (Kings or Queens according to sex), place them at opposite ends of your mantelpiece and move them a little closer to each other daily until they are in contact — speaking your words of encouragement each time you move them.

Or you might feel that a problem requires continuing psychic pressure over several hours; so you might consecrate a candle, mentally concentrate your purpose into it, light it and leave it to burn out (on your altar if you have a permanent one) after declaring firmly and confidently: ’By the time this candle is completely burned out, Mary will be well again’ or ’my choice will be clear’ or ’John will phone me’ or whatever the objective is. During the hours of burning, your attention may be distracted by other unavoidable matters, but your subconscious knows that the candle is being consumed, and for what purpose; so your own flow of psychic effort continues under the surface. An alternative, with a shorter time-span, is the candle-and-needle spell (see Plate 11), where a needle is pushed through the candle partway up; the spell is willed to take effect when the flame reaches the needle. In either case, choose a candle of a colour appropriate to the work if you can.

Use of suitable God- and Goddess-names is a help. If one of our many cats is ill or missing, we always invoke the Egyptian Cat-Goddess, Bast; and it has worked time and again. For a communications problem, Mercury, Hermes or Thoth, according to the pantheon with which you feel in tune; for a problem relating specifically to the Craft, Aradia; for work for children, a Mother-Goddess name — local, if possible, like the Irish Dana; for a karmic question, Arianrhod; and so on. (Even for blocked drains there is that delightful Roman Goddess of Sewerage, Cloacina!).

In devising spells, there is both psychological and psychic advantage in making use of ’correspondences’ — the harmonics which magical experience has shown to link objects or beings in various categories (deities, colours, plant and animal species, Tarot cards, perfumes, minerals, musical frequencies, geometrical figures, Tree of Life paths etc.) and which help one to find those ’points of inter-resonance’ between the levels which we spoke of in Section XI. For information on these correspondences, the indispensable handbook is Crowley’s 777, which some people regard as the most useful and uncontaminated book he ever wrote. (His magical tutor, Allan Bennett, compiled part of it.)

One could list spells indefinitely, and countless books have done so. Very helpful some of them are. But a good witch, like a good chef, does not rely on the recipe books. The best spells are made by using your own imagination in devising them, as well as in working them. Janet invented the chessmen-on-the-mantelpiece spell almost on the spur of the moment, to deal with a particular problem (though it may have occurred to others, too); it met the need simply and vividly, it provided clear symbols for the concentration of willpower — and so it worked.

The thing to remember is that you need imagination and willpower to open psychic channels and activate psychic resonance; and you take it from there in your own way.

Spell-working is a regular part of most ordinary coven Circles. Members come with their own or their friends’ problems, and the group works on them together. For such collective-agenda working, most covens have a regular drill and keep tailor-made spells for special objectives, or for partnership or solo working.

In our coven, we tend to use either cord magic or linked-hand magic. Whichever we are using comes immediately after the Witches’ Rune ring-dance; this limbers the psychic muscles and builds up the cone of power; which must be exploited before it loses intensity.

For cord magic, the coven sits in a ring facing inwards, with a man opposite a woman as far as possible. Cords are held diametrically across the ring, turned over each other at the centre to form a hub of the wheel of spokes. Each cord is held (again, as far as possible) by a woman at one end and a man at the other, pulling their cord taut. As each wish is named, everybody concentrates on it and ties a knot to symbolize that concentration. When all the wishes have been named, the High Priestess directs everyone to concentrate on the cone of power as being charged with the total effect; after a while she orders ’Let go!’, and everybody lets go at once, visualizing the power flying outwards to achieve the various objectives. The cords are gathered into a loose bundle and laid on the altar; the knots are not untied until just before the next Circle.

Sometimes, instead of holding a cord herself, the High Priestess will lie on her back under the wheel of cords, head to the North, grasping the hub of the cords together with her athame point upwards, as a focus for the power and as a kind of lightning-conductor for its ultimate discharge. We find that when she does this she is particularly well able to assess the amount of power that has been raised.

In our other method, we again sit in a ring, man and woman alternately as far as possible, clasping hands with our neighbours (left palm facing upwards, right palm downwards). The wishes are named in the same way, deosil in turn, and as we concentrate on them we envisage the power flowing like a current through our arms, deosil around the Circle, growing faster and stronger and feeding the cone of power in a rising spiral. New witches are often surprised to find that they can actually feel the current.

A development of the linked-hand working was invented by Barbara, one of our witches, and we found it so effective that for us it is now tending to replace cord magic altogether. To take an imaginary coven, naming wishes deosil in turn as usual:

Mary: ’For peace of mind for Bridie, who has a persecution complex.’

Chris: ’For inspiration in my artistic work.’

Susan: ’For success in an interview for a job I’ve applied for.’

Peter: ’For Arthur, who has an alcohol problem.’

Kathie: ’For my mother, who suffers from arthritis.’

Jim: ’For my sister’s cat, who has been missing for two days.’ Without pausing, and still deosil in rotation, the wishes are repeated in shortened form:

Mary: ’Bridie’s paranoia.’

Chris: ’Artistic inspiration.’

Susan: ’Successful interview.’

Peter: ’Arthur’s alcoholism.’

Kathie: ’Mother’s arthritis.’

Jim: ’Sister’s missing cat.’

Then faster and faster, reducing each wish to one key word: ’Paranoia … Inspiration … Interview … Alcohol … Arthritis … Cat … Paranoia … Inspiration …’ — until the High Priestess calls ’Stop!’ and the power is discharged to do its work.

This method has several advantages; building up the power in a steady and accelerating rhythm, pinpointing each wish to a single idea, and impressing all the wishes on each person’s mind until the whole group is simultaneously aware of all of them at the moment of discharge.

The deliberate building up of thought-forms is another technique much used in spell-working, and it can be done by one person, a partnership, or the whole coven.

A thought-form is similar in nature to what psychiatrists call a complex. A complex is a constellation of elements within the psyche which has acquired a quasi-independent existence and which often acts in conflict with the conscious will and with the genuine need of the individual. A complex may be set up by trauma or repression and is in general a malfunction; the psychiatrist’s job is to uncover the cause and to reintegrate the complex’s elements with the total psyche.

But although a thought-form built up by a witch or occultist is also a quasi-independent constellation of psychic elements, it is created deliberately and for a useful purpose, to act in accordance with his or her conscious will. And when it has fulfilled its function, it is consciously reabsorbed. Properly created, used and reabsorbed, it has none of the malfunction-effects which a complex has.

Also, when built up by a partnership or a coven, it includes elements from each of their psyches. (For parallels here, one would have to enter the realms of social rather than individual psychology.) When this is done, the thought-form’s ’quasi-independence’ can become even more striking. So much so that, if it is built up carelessly, it can get out of hand and become difficult to control; but its creators can forestall this by precisely worded and firmly impressed instructions.

The necessary factors are the same as for all spell-working; imagination, clear visualization, exact definition of intent, and concentrated willpower. We will discuss the process as for a group; if a solo witch is doing it, the factors are the same, but it may require extra concentration and self-discipline.

The group first discuss the purpose of the thought-form until it is fully agreed and clear in everyone’s mind. It is not a bad idea to write it down (and to note the exact wording in the coven record).

They then agree on a name for the thought-form, expressing its purpose and characteristics, and of a gender appropriate to these. It should obviously not be a known Goddess- or God-name, because it is being envisaged as an entity in its own right and not as the invocation of a particular divine aspect, which is rather a different process. The name can even be synthetic; borrowing a technique from ceremonial magic, one can make up a name from the initials of the desired qualities. For example, a thought-form whose function required it to be reassuring, encouraging, selective, humorous and activating might be named R-E-S-H-A, Resha.

They next agree on its visual appearance; and one member with a strong visual imagination may be asked to envisage and describe this. It will normally be envisaged in human form, as this makes the idea of talking to it easier to accept. The group should have clearly in mind the thought-form’s sex, apparent age, build, colouring, kind and amount of hair, expression and so on, and whether it (which by now should be thought of as ’he’ or ’she’) is naked or clothed, and if clothed, what he/she is wearing. If there is an artist in the group, it is a very good idea for anything from a quick sketch to a full painting to be made, for everybody to study and hold in mind.

In building up a group thought-form, there is a lot to be said for consciously incorporating necessary qualities from individual members who are known to possess them, and stating this verbally: for example, ’Shera shall have Mary’s compassion, Peter’s determination, Sheila’s discernment, Tony’s quick-wittedness, Moira’s joyfulness,’ and so on. Apart from anything else, this helps to strengthen the group’s awareness that Shera is a ’complex’ including elements from all their psyches.

The final thing to be decided upon is the thought-form’s life-span. Normally this will be for a definite term and will be included in the instructions: ’You will complete your work within seven days and will then disperse, your elements returning to us who made you.’ (Or whatever time-span is felt to be suitable.) But there may be thought-forms whose life-span has to be left open-ended or even made deliberately permanent (for example, if a guardian is being put on a particular place). In that case, the situation should be re-examined periodically, the thought-form recharged and any unexpected side-effects looked for.

(Incidentally, the guardian thought-form is a good example of the usefulness of a name. Suppose we have put such a guardian called Mogrel on a place — the moment we sense that it is under threat, we simply call ’Mogrel — on guard!’ with a deliberate surge of willpower, and the whole psychic defence mechanism is triggered off.)

So now our group has defined, named and visualized its thought form, the next step is to activate it ritually. How this is done is a matter for the group’s inventiveness and its usual way of going about things. For example, the High Priestess could address the Goddess and the God on behalf of the group, announcing what is intended and invoking their help in giving life to ’Shera’, ’Mogrel’ or whoever. Or as with the image-spell, a woman-man partnership could ritually ’give birth’ to the thought-form, though in the absence of a material image the focus would be purely mental concentration. What matters is that there should be a focus, a moment when the whole group simultaneously envisage the thought-form as starting on its independent existence. (Whatever the ritual used, it is effective to mark this moment by the ringing of a bell.)

Once this is done, the group sit in a circle, and each in turn instructs the thought-form by name — using his or her own words but being careful to express exactly the intended purpose.

Here is an example from our own experience. There is off the coast of Co. Mayo a pair of islands called Inishkea, where grey seals come annually in large numbers to bear and rear their pups. In October 1981 certain elements among the local fishermen landed on Inishkea and conducted a wholesale massacre of the pups. Their excuse was that the seals were doing great harm to the salmon-fishing industry — though informed sources (including some in the fishing industry itself) were quick to point out that the real damage was being done by over-fishing, poaching and the use of nets of illegal dimensions. The massacre itself was illegal, since any necessary seal-culling is supposed to be carried out by Government agents after careful official assessment of the need; but somehow (Mayo being a thinly populated, tightly knit area) nobody got prosecuted.

Public opinion was horrified, and controversy raged in the correspondence columns of the newspapers. The Irish Wildlife Federation announced that it would organize volunteer camps on Inishkea to guard the seals during the 1982 pupping season — and many volunteers did in fact spend weeks on the islands in 1982 and 1983.

Our coven, none of whom could physically join these volunteers, felt that we should make our own contribution in our own way. In November 1981 we created a thought-form which we named Mara (Gaelic for ’of the sea’). Janet painted a picture of her (see Plate 18) — a grey-green watery form emerging from, and of the substance of, the sea; and as we had plenty of time in hand, we made small photographic colour prints of the painting so that all our members could carry one. She was instructed: ’You will manifest visually to, and frighten, anyone who tries to harm the seals on or near Inishkea Islands. You will harm no one unless he persists and there is no other way of stopping him.’ We recharged her and reinstructed her at each full Moon throughout the year.

The tragedy of 1981 was not repeated in 1982, 1983 or 1984. We like to think that we helped to prevent it. But in any case, Mara is still in existence.

An interesting footnote to this. After the 1983 pupping season, we were talking to a couple who had been ferrying supplies to the Sea Shepherd volunteers on Inishkea. Before we told them anything about Mara, or about our action, they told us how they had been saved from landing on dangerous rocks in dreadful weather by a woman who waved them urgently away. ’She wore something like an ankle-length grey-green mackintosh,’ they said, ’You couldn’t see her face, but man! — could you see her eyes!’ After they had landed safely further along, they were told there was not, and could not have been, any woman there. They also discovered that several people had seen such a woman walking among the seals, who were surprisingly undisturbed by her. She was known as ’the Ghost’.