Anastasia Greywolf - Witchcraft: A Handbook of Magic Spells and Potions

Welcome to the world of witchery! The powerful words inside this tome will allow you to effect great change through potions, spells, charms, magic rituals, and incantations. Use them to keep yourself safe, counteract evil, heal disease, find true love, charm animals, obtain great fortune, call upon a storm, speak to the dead, and much more, all through the power of witchcraft and magic.

Time-honored knowledge about the powerful forces that guide our planet comes from all corners of it, so this grimoire combines guidance from many different cultures and religions. Not only does this facilitate you going beyond the realms of traditional American (or even European) witchery, it allows you to consult the spellbooks of the cultures best equipped to administer magic in that area. For instance, while any practitioner of witchcraft would agree that theres no better revenge spell than one from an Italian witches coven, spells about nature and animals are better handled by a soothing Native American shamans chant. And while just about every culture has a spell or potion to cure a cough, if youre trying to cure drunkenness, its best to consult the ancient Gaelic mystics before any others (they recommend procuring an egg from an owl or stork for the drinkers cup).

In the succeeding pages, no differentiation is made between the magic known as black and white, because what might be considered evil or revengeful in one circumstance might be benevolent in another, especially when viewed through the lens of partisan experience. (However, spells have been separated roughly by purpose into the chapters you find herein.)

Witchcraft means many different things to many different people. But on the whole, it is the study of how to harness energies as well as unleash the power within. With the right tools and a little practice, the words in this tome will allow you to channel aspects of the spiritual world that are beyond the common man or woman to even understand! If you are new to the world of witchcraft, begin with the rest of this introduction, which will instruct you on the proper instruments to practice your craft, as well as how to form a circle with other members of your coven to increase your magical reach.

For those non-believers who may have found their way to these pages: Before the advent of modern science and medicine, many of the potions and spells in this very book were originally published alongside such practical information as how to prevent an ear infection with alcohol, know what the weather will be based on the wind and clouds, or keep insects away from livestock with vinegar. At the time, all of it was magic. Now, we know that alcohol kills the bacteria that cause ear infections, we can reliably predict the weather within a few degrees (usually), and the acetic acid in vinegar is one of the major components of commercial pesticides. Is it so strange to believe that the accompanying remedies to grow hair, keep fire away, or even regain a lost love might also be based on provable sciencebut we just havent discovered it yet?

In this age, what are our remedies for questions that have no answers? Even if you dont believe it is possible to curse an enemy using a mirror, are you not curious as to what a magician would recite at the moment of danger? If a witch has found a mystical avenue to commune with animals, is there not a part of you that wants to know what she does to harness this power?

This belief is the crux of the effectiveness of witchcraft and magic in general. Your power can only match your convictions. As Charles Godfrey Leland, a pioneering researcher into the art of witchcraft, divulged about revenge spells:

The success of such charms depends chiefly on the seriousness or earnestness with which they are pronounced. When the witch utters them for herself or for another, she does it with an air of terrible vindictiveness, such as would cause anyone to shudder.

Because of this, its best to try to memorize any words herein before reciting them, so that they can be said with the upmost credence. Likewise, anyone who is in your presence while reciting the spell must also believe in the efficacy of the pronounced words. Stay calm and if the desired results are not immediately produced; do not let emotions overwhelm or discourage you.