Gerina Dunwich - 27 Nov

H ave you ever wanted to cast a spell? Perhaps you already have without even being aware of it! For example, simple acts such as making a wish on a falling star or throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder to avert bad luck are customs that have actually evolved from ancient Pagan religious beliefs and practices, and could be considered two basic acts of spellcasting.

Of course the mere making of a wish or the throwing of salt into the air does not in itself make one a Witch, but they are both examples of how simple folk magick works.

To make these mundane gestures into a true act of magick, all one would need to do is perform it with visualization and intent.

For instance, to add magick to the wish made on a star, you would need to visualize the wish coming true as it is being spoken in the form of a spell (or prayer to the Goddess and/or the Horned God) for the desired outcome. Example:

HARMING NONE AND RESPECTING THE FREE WILL OF ALL

LIVING THINGS, IT IS MY WILL AND INTENT TO

(state whatever it is you are wishing to attain or accomplish.)

To seal the spell, the phrase:

SO MOTE IT BE

would then be said.

The five-pointed star known as a pentacle is a sacred symbol of the magickal craft of Wicca. (When written or drawn it is called a pentagram.) It represents wo/man (the spirit or the divine) and the four ancient elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. It is used, among other things, for protection, invoking, controlling, and banishing elemental forces.

To add magick to the gesture of throwing salt over your shoulder, you would need to visualize yourself surrounded by a protective sphere of Goddess/God energy in the form of white light. Once this was done and as the salt was being cast into the air, you would recite a spell such as:

WITH THIS SALT, A SYMBOL OF THE SACRED EARTH AND A TOOL OF PURIFICATION, I DO HEREBY BANISH ALL ENERGIES NEAR AND FAR THAT ARE OF A NEGATIVE NATURE. I AM NOW, AND SHALL ALWAYS BE, PROTECTED BY THE SPHERE OF WHITE LIGHT. THIS IS MY WILL. SO MOTE IT BE.

The first and perhaps the most important thing to remember when casting a spell of any kind is the Wiccan Rede. This is the creed of contemporary Neo-Pagan Witchcraft which states: Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill; An it harm none, do what ye will.

What this means simply is do not use magick or any other type of energy or power to bring deliberate harm unto others, including yourself. Never attempt to manipulate or interfere with the free will of any living thing.

If you should violate the Wiccan Rede (even unintentionally or through carelessness) you will have to pay a price: The negativity created by your own actions will return to you threefold or more. This applies to all spells you cast, regardless of how simple they may seem. (More about this in a bit when I discuss what is known as Dark Magick.)

And speaking of simple spells: Just as magick can be as simple as one desires, it can also be as complicated as one chooses. But while an elaborate ritual employing lots of expensive and/or difficult to obtain magickal paraphernalia may indeed be quite a flashy show (and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this), it certainly is not requisite for performing effective magick.

A simple spell using just a candle can often be just as powerful if it is done with the right intent and if it is magick that is drawn from the most important sourcestraight from the heart.

I often receive interesting letters from people around the world (many of them young folks) who are interested in Wicca and are new to the art of spellcasting. Many want to know if there is any way that they (or I on their behalf) can cast a spell or concoct a magickal potion to instantly solve all of their problems, make them win the lottery, literally transform them into a different person, and other impossibilities. Ive even been sent letters by incarcerated criminals inquiring if I, for a fee, would be willing to perform a spell of some sort to get them released from prison.

As with anything else, there are certain things that magick can do and certain things that it cannot. One must not jump blindly into magickal workings with unrealistic expectations and/or selfish motives. To do so is only setting yourself up for a disappointment.

As far as spellcasting is concerned, you must first acquire a basic understanding of magick and how it actually works. It is an extremely powerful energy that can bring about a desired change when used correctly (being performed during the appropriate lunar phase and using herbs possessing the correct magickal or astrological vibrations, for example.) But as much as we would all like to wave our magick wands, and then poof! something we want just suddenly appears, we must face the fact that it unfortunately does not work that way in real life. The Samantha Stevens type of magick is not realistic.

This is not to say that the magick real-life Witches work with is not powerful, because it truly is. It just happens to work in a different way.

Magick can help you but it will not solve all of your personal problems if you are not willing to put some hard work and effort into the betterment of your own life. Magick can awaken your inner strength and keep you focused on your goals, but the rest is up to you. If a spell helps to create an opportunity for you but you do nothing to act upon it, chances are nothing good will come of it.

If you are one of those people who are plagued with constant problems or what appears to be a streak of bad luck, magick can help to banish negativity, attract good luck into your life, even break curses (if they are responsible), and protect you against psychic attacks.

However, if the same problems continue to arise after trying all manners of magick to combat them, perhaps it is time for you to examine (or reexamine) your situation to find out just why you seem to be a magnet for attracting them. Is it something you are possibly bringing on yourself without even being aware of it? Perhaps you simply need to make some positive adjustments in your life or learn to handle your situations in a better way so they do not reoccur.

Regarding the lottery, the simple reason that no amount of magick can win the lottery for you is because there are countless numbers of people just like yourself wishing, hoping, and praying (each a form of magick) for different numbers to come up. The end result is nothing more than a conflict of magickal energies. As each person who gambles on a lottery ticket focuses their energies on his or her personal numbers, these energies are simultaneously working against the energies of the next person, and so on, and so on. Magickally, it is a no-win situation as only one set of numbers at a time can be drawn as the winner.