Marla Brooks - Workplace Spells: Everyday Magick on the Job

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Copyright 2009 by Marla Brooks
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008936058

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ISBN: 978-0-7643-3136-7
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All of the following images are courtesy of BigStockPhoto.com
Witchs Kitchen Anneke Schram. Magic Book Boguslaw Mazur. Tarot Vladimir Yanchenko. Wican Objects N Joy Neish. Witch Broom and Hat Samantha Grandy. Electricity Orb Phil Morley. Gemstones Dorinel Cristache. Herbs Dana Rothstein. Incense Dana Rothstein. Pixel-Pizzazz Tara Urbach. Bouquet Garni Robyn Mackenzie. Incense in a marble holder Jonathan Brizendine. Candle Andreas Meyer. Alternative Therapy Tracy Hebden. Mean Looking Cat Eric Gevaert. Raven Michal Boubin. Spooky Spider Janet Cochran. 3D Pentagraam Bram Janssens. Bats Tatyana Okhitina. Moon Cheng En Lim. Lightning Darko Draskovic. Powerful Future Darla Hallmark. Bottles and Keys Derek Mille. Red Sachet Elena Elisseev. Rust Pakhay Oleksandr. Magick2B Michelle L. Douce. Potpourri Gergo Orban. Lavendar and amethyst N Joy Neish. Crystal on Cloth Crista Rowe. Divination N Joy Neish. Silver Bell Carl Hebert. Basil Olga Shelego. Silver Box Marko Beric. Beehive Linda Buckli. Front of old big car Jorge Felix Costa. Feline eye Ekaterina Shviger. Lighting up candle Eray Haciosmanoglu. Candlestick phone James Steidl. Power Geir-Olav Lyngfjell. Tigers eye Alexandar Iotzo. Dollar Bill Christopher Howells. Time Paul Morley. Antique medicine jar Alex Bramwel. Candle Black Pearls Misa Krstivojev. Bomb on White James Steidl. Dragon head Sean McHaffie. Job search Mark Ross. Interview 2 Marcin Balcerzak. Pouch Grzegorz Wolczyk. Lapis Lazuli Dorinel Cristache. Mirror Lars Christensen. Vase Christine Farrelly. Sleepy Beagle Nose Todd Arena. Glasses, pen, newspaper Amber Seber. Soap! Thomas Perkins. Burning Paper Konstantin Kirillov. Eye of the moon Vivien Matthiesen. Guardian Angel Look Iryna Kurhan. Ancient Book Cover David Broberg. Magic Spells Dana Rothstein. Warm Light Michael Shake. Desktop In Office Aleksey Klementiev. Spa Stones With Candle N Ataliya Litova. Moon Chris Harvey. Traffic Myrlys Stockdale. Stone Wall With Grass Joy Rector. Car Parking In The Last Empty Space Jon Helgason. Airplane In Sky Tyler Olson. Blue Candle Fran Parnell. Inscect Scott Harms. Incense Vinicius Ramalho Tupinamba. Candle In The Dark Sergey Lobanov. Magic View Vaida Petreikiene.

Dedication

To those who have gone before us and to
those who have yet to be.

Acknowledgments

Ive been quite fortunate since I decided to come out of the broom closet and admit to my Wiccan ways, and I am thankful to be surrounded by supportive and loving folks who have helped me along in various ways.

Bright blessings are sent to Dinah Roseberry at Schiffer Books for a million different reasons, and to my friend and fellow Wiccan, psychic Victoria Gross, who has taught me so many valuable lessons.

Blessings must also be bestowed on Dave and Tom Jones, the owners of Para X radio, who welcomed me with open arms so that I could have a forum to talk about The Craft and help educate, enlighten, and clear up some of the misconceptions that keep many of us pagans flying low under the radar. And also to Ghostologys Brian and Anna Marie Byers who opened my eyes and made me realize that there was a need for a show like Stirring The Cauldron in the first place.

Thank you guys so much!

Contents

Introduction

The belief in Witches dates back to antiquity. According to the early Christian church, witches never existed, but by the fifteenth century, the church had modified its opinion. Even though they had finally acknowledged our existence, they mistakenly believed that in order to obtain our powers, we sold our souls to Satan and that ridiculous belief was used as justification for the churchs subsequent burning at the stake of hundreds of thousands of religious heretics of all types.

True witches do not acquire their powers from Satan or anyone else. We are neither man nor demon made. Our powers are passed down through bloodlines, from one generation to the next. We can choose to either embrace those powers or ignore them. Its a personal choice, but whether we choose to utilize these gifts or not, we can never disclaim them, because that is who we are.

So does one have to be born a witch to practice witchcraft?

Some witches believe that one must be born with the talent, while others, me included, believe that all people have the ability, and that becoming a witch is, for the most part, simply a matter of training. To me, the most obvious characteristic of a modern day witch is the ability to cast a spell.

Contemporary witchcraft in Western cultures is a spiritual and magical practice, which may have strong religious elements to it or none at all. Contemporary witchcraft often involves the use of divination, magic, and working with the classical elements and unseen forces such as spirits and the forces of nature. The practice of natural medicine, folk medicine, and spiritual healing is also common, as are alternative medical and New Age healing practices.

When I was growing up, I used to hear stories told around the dinner table about my grandfathers mother, my great grandmother Sophie. She was supposedly a very powerful and well-respected witch in her village. She could turn a stick into a snake, my grandfather would proudly boast, whereupon my grandmother would say, Nonsense! then quickly change the subject because she thought I seemed way too interested in what Grandpa was saying.