Hello witches! I couldn’t sleep last night, so I wandered to my alter and made a spell jar for vivid dreaming. I love dream magick, but sadly I find that I never remember my dreams/don’t dream at all most nights. This spell was powerful, and I was visited by Aphrodite in my dream. So I’d love to share it with you all✨
What You’ll Need:
A glass jar
A light blue and dark blue candle
Lavender incense
Moon water
Thyme
Lavender flowers
Sage
Black salt (for protection, this is optional)
Lavender oil (optional)
Your wand of choice (optional)
I also used amethyst, crystal quarts and selenite.
What To Do:
Cast your circle and cleanse the room you’ll be sleeping in (I use ethically sourced palo santo to cleanse). During this time I call upon whatever deities I wish to work with, but if you don’t work with the devine that’s okay too. After casting your circle, light the lavender incense and use the smoke to cleanse your materials.
Set your intention! What kind of things are you looking to gain from this dream? Are you performing this spell for what kind of reasons?
Light your blue candles. I used both light and dark blue.
Add your moon water to the jar, along with a few sprigs of thyme, a pinch of ground sage, lavender flowers, black salt and lavender oil. As your doing this, focus on your intention. Visualize what you’re wanting to gain from this spell.
I used a little chant while doing this:
Whatever the meaning, so mote it be. Show me the dream I wish to see.
Meditate on your intention. Call upon your deities if you work with them, ask them to guide you during your sleep.
Take the melted wax from your blue candles and pour it into the jar while you focus and meditate on your intention. After this, take your wand and trace a pentagram over the jar while using the chant above. Tap the glass three times with your wand to set the spell.
Once this is finished, take your desired crystals and the jar to a place beside your bed (i set my things on my bedside table). Put out your candles, incense, turn off the lights and get comfy in bed. Meditate on your intention as you fall asleep ✨
Some good knowledge to have in the back of the mind when performing love and sex magic, alone or with others, yourself or for others. Sex and love magic often work together.
As always, I do not want minors on these posts, this is an 18+ only post.
Blog post include...
TIME - The best times to cast love and sex magic.
SPACE - The best places to performance.
TOOLS - Great talismans and objects to have near you when performing.
COLOURS - Best colours to use.
NUMBERS - Numbers use and to invoke.
WATERS - Spell waters to use for enhancements.
OILS - Spell oils best suited for love and sex magic.
BOTANICALS & APHRODISIACS - Flowers, herbs, foods, etc. These are the botanicals to use for love and sex magic, especially the aphrodisiac ones.
NOTES - Extra good knowledge to know when performing love and sex spells.
TIME
🌑 New Moon: The new moon is associated with our shadow self. Due to history and religion, we often associate sex and desires with our shadow self, something kind of unacceptable. It's such a primal human feeling, lust. So sex magic benefits from the New Moon greatly.
🌒 Waxing: The moon is getting bigger and brighter. Creating an ideal phase for magic around growth. Say you're in a relationship already, you'd want it to grow better and stronger, this is an ideal time to add extra passion into your sex life too.
🌕 Full Moon: Everything is full and intense on the Full Moon. Generally, all spells are enhanced during Full Moon, so you may cast sex magic here to enhance them. See what works best for you whenever it is the Full Moon or New Moon.
♀️ Friday: These are the best days for love and sex magic. This day is in honour of Venus. But you may also know it as the day of Aphrodite, Freya, and Oshun. Generally, love spirits are most powerful during Fridays.
🕒 The Clock: Typically, daylight brings abundance, growth, and positive influences. Night brings out the shadow self, intuition and emotional self. You could prepare spells in the daylight and performe them during night. See what works best for you. I wouldn't worry too much about the exact clock.
SPACE
🛏️ The Bedroom: The bedroom is home to the bed, a place we spend roughly ⅓ of our lives in. I believe it oozes with great magical threshold and potential. It's the home to our subconscious mind and desires. A bed is also where we typically perform pleasurable acts. Performaning sex magic in the bedroom is more potent than that of the living room.
🛁 The Bathroom: Not the place we typically have acts of pleasure, but it is a place we're often bare and naked in. we take baths, or get ready and make sure we looks alright, make sure we smell good, some do their makeup here, so on and so forth. I often perform glamour magic in the bathroom, and if you do glamour magic in conjunction with sex magic, your sex magic has a greater chance of success. Glamour magic is about attraction, and sex magic is specifically attracting pleasure. Think of them as collaborative partners occasionally.
TOOLS
🌿 Priapic Wand: A wand with a phallic object attached to the end, usual that of an acorn or pinecone. Mainly used to encourage the growth of Spring and is a symbol of Imbolc and Beltane. You may attache ribbons and bells to it as well.
🌿 Mermaid Wand: Mermaids or sirens are said to have lured sailors into the sea with their beauty and sexual nature. A mermaid wand is simply a piece of driftwood.
🌿 Copper Wand: Copper holds romance and feminine energy, so copper wands are often used in love spells, tope it with a rose quartz to enhance the powers.
🦢 Swan/Rooster Feathers: Swans are often a romantic symbol of grace and beauty, we often see swans in artworks being their iconic heart symbol together, they're also a bird that mates for life. Roosters on the other hand help ward off evil and are a symbol of male energy. I see rooster feathers often used in love magic, perhaps because the rooster is such a lady's man?
🔧 Iron: Representing primal male power. Iron helps invoke sexual desire and remedy lack of libido. Iron is also hard, stiff, and endures a lot. So we're hoping that it's magical properties will tranfer through to the spells. Soaking iron in water and using that water to bath your man, specifically the part that's actually useful about us, will enhance us to perform better.
🕯️ Candles: Candles are already used in every spell there is, I'm mainly placing it here since I've found that when you involve another person and light their name on fire it invoke passion and sexual drive.
💕 Adult Toys: I suggest having literal symbols of sex near you or being used when performing sex magic. Even greater if you have one specifically for the use of these rituals. Similarly, having pornography to stimulate you is favoured, or a partner.
🐎 Horseshoes or Horse Symbols: Horseshoes are often associated with luck and protection. But can also be a powerful love talisman. Horse shoes incorporate iron (as discussed above), the shape of a horse shoe is reminiscens a cresent moon, often associated with female energy, and it may also be associated with the symbol of double horns which is a symbol of the female genitalia (Statues showing off the vulva frightened off ghosts because the vulva is a symbol of life and ghosts are dead). The symbol of a horse adds additonal meaning, especially that of a stallion, being that of powerful virile animals. If you were to hammer a nail through a horseshoe, well, isn't that obvious why?
COLOURS
🍎 Red: A primary colour, red is associated with life and passion in many cultures. Red is connected to the body through health, sex, lust, love, romance, passion, confidence.
🍊 Orange: Symbolising connections in our life. It has associations with power, vitality, energy, growth, success, and ambitions. Great colour to use when you're already in a relationship.
💗 Pink: Often a feminine colour, therefore, it represents those quirks and stereotypes. Unconditional love, playfulness, love, gentleness, beauty, feelings. It's also the lesser colour of red, so if you'd want more intimate sex rather than rough, I recommended pink.
NUMBERS
2️⃣ Two (2): For obvious reasons, it is the number of unity, of harmony.
5️⃣ Five (5): I have heard to invoke the power of Oshun (Orisha of Love), you should use the number five.
6️⃣ Six (6): To invoke the power of Aphrodite (Lady of Love), use the number six.
8️⃣ Eight (8): To invoke the power of Inanna-Ishtar (Queen of Heaven), use the number eight. Eight is also the number associated with eternity and infinity if you lay it down, so use it to keep a relationship and sex life intact.
🔢 Numerology: Generally, lesser numbers are beginnings and bigger numbers are endings. So use lesser numbers to start a passionate life and bigger numbers to have greater orgasms, etc. See what works best for you.
WATERS
🕊️ Angel's Water: This water began as a complexation remedy in the sixtheenth-century before slowly becoming a love potion. It's name is a reference to the Angels that seduced the daughters of man in the Book of Genesis. It's also known as Aphrodite Water with it's main ingredient being Myrtle, which is said is what Aphrodite was covered in when she emerged from the ocean.
💞 Florida Water: Originally marketed as a cologne. Florida Water has attractive qualities due to it's scent with rosemary and citrus aspects. IT draws in luck, fantastic energies, and happiness.
🌹 Rose Water: Roses are often associated with love and romance, especially the red variant. Rose Water, or any flower water for that matter, are often used in love spells and beauty spells.
🍷 May Wine: Ritual potion for Midsummer’s Eve and Walpurgis Night. Some of my potions require mixing ingredients into a wine, and I choose May Wine, if I don't have that, red wine is fine.
OILS
💖 Love Oil: Used for love and sex spells, as well as being used for attraction.
💘 Come To Me Lover Oil: Consider this a deluxe version of Love Oil. Perfect for sex magic and attraction of people, used mainly for specific purposes, such as drawing in a specific kind of sex life or person.
🐈 Black Cat Oil: Break bad spells and hexes, attract positive attention, especially that of the opposite gender. Depending on what oil base you choose, jojoba or castor oil for protection and almond oil for love spells.
🌿 Cleopatra Oil: Captures the true essence of legendary Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Used for glamor spells, love and sex magic.
Ingredients in which have shown to have aphrodisiac effects, some more than others.
☁️ Myrrh and Frankincense: They may not be obvious, with their religious background and association. However, they were burned in ancient Egypt, and myrrh was associated with Isis, the goddess of fertility, and frankincense with that of Rah. The lunar and sun goddess and god. Burn together with a partner or burn myrrh if you're more fem leaning and frankincense if you're mask leaning. Burn myrrh if you're attracting a woman and burn frankincense if you're attracting a man. What if you're nonbinary or the partner is? Burn both.
NOTES
Some extra good things to note before, during, and after performing love and sex spells.
Bathing your hands in Rose Water to enhance spells before performing - You may also use thyme.
Performing naked for sex magic increases the chances of success. Alternatively, clothing that makes you feel sexy.
Wearing a red ribbon around your waist for sexual seduction enhancement. You may use red string and incorporate knot magic, or a red gather belt, or regular belt. Something red around your waist, essentially.
In sex magic, you'll want to stir counter-clockwise. This is to invoke passion and vigour in your sex life. While clockwise is the opposite and lessens the libido. You may also think of it as counter-clockwise for deviance and clockwise for "vanilla".
Stir near your thighs and genitals to enhance success and better sex.
Stir near your heart for romantic love.
The hair off of someone's head is often used in love spells to draw them near you and make them love you. However, if you acquire their pubic hair, more sexual and aroused feelings will be invoked.
Use your sexual bodily fluids to charge and enchant sigils and other objects.
Use menstrual blood to enhance love spells. Are you someone who do not bleed like me? Worry not! Prick your ring finger, preferably that of the left (unless you're married, then that of the right) and the blood will have a similar effect to that of menstrual blood.
Are your love spells not working on your lover? Acquire a piece of their hair and let gentle water drip on ti it continually and the resistance should wear off. Sometimes your lover may even be cursed with lack of sexual performances, so bathing in iron would help or eating any of the aphrodisiac ingredients would help too.
It helps to be in the mindset when performing love and sex spells, so being aroused and excited for sex spells helps them perform better. Being in a romantic mood helps for love spells, so feed yourself well with cherries, peaches, and chocolate. As well as having your favourite adult toys out when doing sex magic or also warming yourself up and then performing sex magic.
That should be it, go out and have lots of good sex and love!
Excuse grammar mistake and spelling errors, English is not my first language.
An emoji spell to help cut off energetic cords that have kept one tied to karmic wounds:
“Connections that no longer serve my highest good are meant to be left in the past, for me to mend my own heart and soul with more ease... I deserve to be freed from the strings that have been attached.”
Ingredients:
A piece of my hair.
Sugar to sweeten my attitude.
Lavender to help me keep calm and bring happiness to my life.
Dandelion to make my wishes come true.
Agrimony and Juniper, for protection.
Mullen for courage and motivation.
Cardamom pods to attract love and lust.
Orange peel, for luck and happiness.
Rose for self love.
Jasmine for love and protection.
Cinnamon for love and money.
And my favorite ingredient .. Orchid flowers fully bloomed, for inner peace and a reminder that I to will bloom beautifully.
I put sage on the top of the jar for a final cleansing and sealed it up with a white candle.
If I had to describe shadow work in one word, it would be introspection. Introspection is the examination of your own mental state and is necessary in order to learn more about your fundamental nature. Although it may sound off-putting and even scary at first, shadow work is a necessary component in the process of healing. We all have aspects of ourselves that we’ve rejected and hidden away out of fear. Through shadow work, we’re able to reflect on our thoughts, emotions, and habits so that we can find the root cause of our suffering and heal ourselves. By reincorporating those aspects of ourselves that we’ve denied, we feel more fulfilled and can begin to love ourselves fully.
Where does shadow work come from?
The concept of the shadow self comes from Carl Jung who believed that our shadow self is the subconscious aspect, or “dark side”, of our personality that our conscious ego doesn’t identify with. However, I would like to clarify that “dark” does not imply or equate with bad. That which resides outside of our consciousness can be either good or bad, but aren’t inherently reflective of our value or “goodness” as a person.
Although these repressed aspects of ourselves can manifest negatively, it isn’t because those parts of us are “bad”, but that the process of repression is inherently painful and toxic. This is reflected by Jung when he states, “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” He believed that until we’ve merged our conscious and subconscious selves, that our conscious would be “the slave of the autonomous shadow”. This is due to the shadow self overwhelming our conscious selves by falling victim to our own self-imposed traps.
Through assimilating this shadow self, not over-identifying with it, Jung believed we go through the process of enantiodromia, thereby integrating the subconscious by reincorporating our shadow selves into our personality and allowing us to solidify ourselves through wholeness. He best described this by stating “assimilation of the shadow gives a man body, so to speak.” However, don’t fall into the misconception that shadow work is a short-term practice. Shadow work is a continuous practice and integration of the shadow self is a will take place throughout your life.
How do I do shadow work?
In the last question, I identified that practicing self-reflection is a key component of shadow work, but what does that mean? What am I supposed to be reflecting on? Well, the first thing that you should focus on is being present throughout the day. Identify feelings that come up throughout the day and observe them objectively. What situation or interaction triggered these emotions? How did I react to those emotions? Were my emotions controlling me or was I in control of my emotions? Why did this situation or interaction cause me to feel this way? How did I cope with those feelings (self-harming, lashing out at others, communicating my feelings, journalling, etc.)? Did I punish myself for getting upset? If so, why?
There are numerous ways to reflect on your feelings and experiences in order to get a better understanding of yourself. Through evaluating how you react to situations, which situations upset you, and how you managed those feelings, you’re able to build the foundation to understanding your emotions and bridge the gap between your subconscious and conscious mind.
Once you’ve done this, you’ll find that the emotions you feel in the present are reflective of unhealed emotions from your past. Perhaps the reason you feel that you’re unable to set boundaries as an adult is because as a child, your parents never respected your boundaries by going through your phone or diary, yelling at you when you said no to a request, forcing you into situations that made you feel you had no choice.
By identifying the root cause of your emotional pain, you’re able to address it in the present and heal from the trauma. The simplest way that I’ve found to address them is through journalling. You can purchase a physical journal or even use your notes app, either way, you’re writing out your feelings and reflections to gain deeper insight. It’s important to remember that this looks different for anyone and that the best way to approach shadow work is by doing what feels most natural! You can choose to stick to self-reflective journal prompts, vent about whatever is upsetting you, write letters to whoever has hurt you, etc. Ultimately, you can guide yourself based off of what you feel you need and where you are in your journey.
What parts of yourself do you find yourself rejecting the most? Many of us have experienced the pain of rejection in some aspects of our lives and sometimes, it’s incredibly painful and leaves us with long-lasting wounds. We end up going through our lives carrying baggage that we don’t even know we have! Many times, I’ve found myself wondering why I felt so repulsed by aspects of myself and why I felt so strongly that they needed to be locked away forever. I couldn’t allow myself or others to see my truest self, my whole self, out of fear. I was scared of being rejected, shamed, humiliated by the people around me. I was scared of hurting other people by being myself and of being hurt by others. That’s no way to live, is it? When we tell ourselves that aspects of ourselves aren’t good enough, we end up going through life devaluing ourself. We’ve broken our own trust by rejecting ourselves, we’ve told ourselves that we aren’t good enough or worthy of love. In shadow work, you’re called to go inward and unpack everything that we’ve kept hidden for years and sometimes even decades.
Bring the parts of yourself that you’ve repressed to the surface and nourish them with love, allow yourself to see that ALL OF YOU is deserving of love and support. For you, that could mean unlearning your unhealthy beliefs about food or eating, allowing yourself to be emotional around the people you love (despite how much you were told that you were too emotional, a crybaby, too sensitive in the past), allowing yourself to relax without feeling guilty about not being productive because you recognize your needs (even though you feel your sense of worth is tied to being productive at the cost of your own health).
Common misconceptions about shadow work?
Shadow work is evil or bad, the shadow is evil or bad
The purpose of shadow work is healing through working with your subconscious to release repressed aspects of yourself and heal from painful, traumatic experiences. Your shadow side is simply your unconscious and to believe that it’s bad is to believe that you are bad. It’s merely the part of yourself that you aren’t aware of consciously and shouldn’t be feared.
Certain emotions are “bad”
When you let go of the idea that emotions are either good or bad, you’ll allow yourself to just be and stop putting so much pressure on yourself to feel “good” all of the time. Happiness isn’t a constant state of being so stop expecting to be all of the time, we have a range of emotions for a reason so stop being ashamed of them. Your feelings are natural and if you feel like they’re out of control and something to be ashamed of, there is nothing wrong with that! It’s okay to feel like your emotions are controlling you because that isn’t permanent. Your feelings aren’t permanent and are completely manageable with proper guidance! The reason you feel like your emotions are controlling you is because you probably don’t have the knowledge to cope with them in an effective and healthy way. It’s helpful to sit with your emotions alone and look at them objectively without placing any judgement on them, this will help you calm down and assess your feelings. From there, you can identify what you need to relax and recover as well as acknowledge to yourself that your feelings are natural. When you stop categorizing your emotions as bad, they’re no longer shameful to experience and therefore you can see with better clarity how to cope with them and move on.
I’ve already released it so…
Why am I still upset?
Why does it still keep popping up in my head?
Why haven’t I moved on?
Why am I not making progress?
With the rise of self development and spirituality, I find that more and more people are rushing to complete their healing. Healing is a continuous, life-long cycle and not a destination. Putting the pressure on yourself to reach the place of ultimate healing is not only toxic, but it impedes your ability to actually heal anything. Healing is about love, compassion, and patience and it’s not going to happen according to a timeline. Allow yourself the time to experience your emotions, see them objectively, forgive yourself and others and move on without the pressure of expectations.
Another reason that you could be experiencing this is that despite the work you think you’ve done, it hasn’t been sufficient. I’ve found that a lot of journal prompts provided online are surface level at best and can be more pacifying than revealing. If you’re not feeling anything while doing your inner work, you’re not doing it correctly. Ultimately, this is about uncovering what makes us UNCOMFORTABLE and moving through those feelings. When you allow yourself to experience the sadness, hurt, anger, and/or frustration than you’re telling yourself that these feelings are okay and don’t need to be suppressed. The reality is that no matter what you’re feeling, you are allowed to experience those emotions and it’s only human! Unfortunately, many people associate lower vibrational emotions as bad, but this is a huge misconception! Telling yourself that anger, sadness, etc. are “bad” implies that you shouldn’t experience these emotions and that you have to get rid of them which is not only wrong, but unhealthy. There is no right or wrong emotions so don’t buy into the belief that you should feel a certain way, simply allow yourself to be and you’ll find that it’s much easier to navigate your emotions and needs. The only way to make it to the other side is by wading through the water, be patient and know that you’re feeling exactly what you should be. When you stop censoring yourself, you’ll discover a newfound sense of freedom and wholeness.
If you find yourself circling back to certain topics, for example, your ex-boyfriend than perhaps there are triggers in your environment that remind you of the situation, you have more that needs to be addressed that you may not have been ready for or aware of previously (hence why shadow work is a practice that is ongoing), or they’re representative of a deeper issue that you’re repressing. Whatever the cause is, the same methods as earlier will apply and can be discerned through your own intuition.
What are some basic journal prompts that I can do?
What feelings come up when you think of ____?
How did that experience make you feel emotionally? How did it make you feel about yourself? How did it make you feel about the other person or people?
Write a letter to yourself, your inner child, the people who’ve hurt you, and the people you’ve hurt. Express how you feel honestly, without holding back and then forgive yourself and the other person.
If you could say anything to yourself or another person for closure, what would it be?
How have these situations and experiences impacted your mental health? How have they affected your belief system about yourself, other people, and the world?
What about yourself are you ashamed of? What about yourself are you embarrassed of? What about yourself makes you angry? What do you regret? Why do you feel this way about yourself and where do these feelings stem from?
What makes you feel most alone? What makes you feel most loved? How can you incorporate that knowledge into your life to make it better?
What’s the most hurtful thing someone has said or done to you? Why did it hurt you so much? How does it still affect you now? How can you heal from it and allow yourself to move on?
What do you need to forgive yourself for? What do you need to forgive others for?
Where do you feel you lack security in your life? Why? How does this impact your life and your relationships?
This is a list of generic prompts for you to start with, but feel free to message me if you need help with more specific topics or I can make another post altogether for journal prompts.
do you have ADHD? are you easily distracted? do you daydream constantly abt everything and anything? when you hear the words “you might fall asleep” in a post abt meditation, do you sigh and roll your eyes?
if you answered “yes” to any of the above, then this is the post for you!!
as someone who has type one ADHD and a crazy imaginative mind, I haven’t seen a single Intro To Meditation post that pertains to me. they’re always abt tips for visualization, or tips for not falling asleep within 5 minutes. I have insomnia you guys, I ain’t gonna be asleep in any less than 2 hours smh
without further rambling, here’s some tips and tricks for people who just can’t fucking meditate
1) listen to some goddamn music. preferably stuff you’ve listened to many times before, songs you have basically memorized so you don’t get distracted by how unique this new sound is, or how cool that voice was right there. listen to your favorites!! listen to songs in foreign languages, so you aren’t focused on the words but more the feeling they give. blast that shit through your most comfortable earbuds, tune everything else out
2) don’t sit outside. trust me. too many extra sensory bits and shit that you just don’t need rn. miss me with that wind and bugs and prickly grass.
3) tired of the “visualize a door” method? visualize yourself dancing! find one good dance song that you’ll only use when trying to meditate, and choreograph your own little routine! imagine urself dancing outside on a chilly autumn day- the air smells crisp and the leaves crack and almost hurt beneath your feet and every once in a while your arms hit a twig or branch. imagine it’s spring and there’s cold dew on the soft new grass and the sun is making your bare arms tingly, a warm breeze tugs at your hair and clothes. get creative! the hardest part is imagining yourself *in* your body, looking out, instead of watching urself dance like it’s a movie.
4) sit in the car!! oh my god!! do this!! the passenger seat of the car opens a world of possibilities, and you probably won’t even have to close your eyes because damn, look at you, you’re already off daydreaming abt god knows what and completely ignoring everything around you!! if cars are good for anything, it’s daydreaming. now all you gotta do is figure out how to switch your daydreaming off and turn meditating on.
5) school age witch? meditate in the morning on the bus. if you trust the other kids riding with you enough, do it on the way home too (warning: may suddenly find urself interrupted by flying paper balls or gross laughing. this is why we meditate in the mornings when everyone’s half asleep still)
6) it’s okay if a stray thought drifts in every once in a while, so don’t get upset over it.
7) your leg bouncing? scalp itch? eye twitching? keep bouncing it! scratch your head! rub your eyes!! trying to ignore these things will take more effort than it will to just take care of them. make sure youre comfortable
8) extending on that point, if you find your overall position uncomfortable, just move dude. it’s okay, just cause you aren’t laying with ur arms at ur sides and legs perfectly straight doesn’t mean you won’t get some meaningful meditation in
I was hoping to get 10 points but I’m suddenly lacking motivation and getting bored with typing this. guess that’s the proof for you that I have ADHD? I hope these help! feel free to add on your own tips for meditation! and like always, don’t beat urself up if nothing seems to be helping. I’ve been trying for three years and I still struggle very much to meditate, and be confident that what I’m seeing isn’t just my Wild Wild imagination, and is instead the astral or whatever else I’m looking for. take your time, and good luck! ✨🌊🥀
In her book Wicca for Beginners Thea Sabin says, “When you do a spell, you are telling the universe that you intend to bring about a certain change and you are putting the energy in motion to achieve that end.”
A spell is sort of an energetic shove to get things moving in the way you want them to, and we do this by creating a ritual to build and then release the energy to get things going.
Most spells are based on a principle called imitative magic.
In his book Backwoods Shamanism, Ray Hess says, “Imitative magic means that making a symbolic gesture, when combined with intent and will… can affect the intended change on a grander scale.” [Note: I don’t actually recommend this book, but I like Hess’s definition of imitative magic.]
So, for example, you may have heard of a “cord cutting” ritual, where you symbolically cut your spiritual ties to a person you no longer want to have a relationship with. You’re symbolically creating a separation between yourself and that person, which creates physical separation in real life.
There are four basic components to any spell: your will, your intention, focused energy, and a ritual action. Some magical traditions add extra steps, like casting a circle, but from what I’ve read and been taught, these four basic components are constant no matter which tradition you’re following.
Let’s start with the most important bit: your will. Your will isn’t just what you want: it’s the desire and drive that is in alignment with your highest good. But in this case we’re also talking about will in the sense of willpower — Basically, your will is your personal spiritual authority and the source of your magical power.
Any spell that is not in alignment with your will won’t work. This is why it’s important to be clear about what you want and why you want it before you attempt a spell.
There’s also an element of belief here. Because magic only works when your spells are in alignment with your will, if you don’t believe your spell can work, it won’t. This is because you, yourself are blocking it from working.
The second important component of a spell is your intention. When you do a spell, it’s important to clearly state what you want to happen. Some traditions will write the intention down on a piece of paper, which is called a petition. Other traditions will use a spoken statement of intention in the form of an incantation. Some witches use both.
You need to be clear about your intention before you begin your spell. Magic will always follow the path of least resistance, so it’s important to be specific. However, I find that magic works better when your intention leaves a little bit of wiggle room. It’s about finding that happy medium.
You also want to keep your petitions and incantations simple. If it’s more than a couple of sentences, you probably need to trim it down a little.
The next important part of a spell is focused energy. Magic is a way of directing energy, and this means that your own energy needs to be focused for it to work.
Don’t get too stressed out about focus. Your spell isn’t going to fail if your mind wanders for a few seconds. But you should set aside some time where you’ll be able to fully dedicate yourself to your spell. Try to find a private place where you won’t be interrupted. Turn off the TV, put your phone away, and try to avoid distractions. You might find that playing meditation music or burning incense helps you focus.
While you cast your spell, keep focusing on what it is you want to manifest. Again, don’t overthink this and don’t worry if your thoughts wander a little, but try to stay in the moment. Repeating your incantation can help with maintaining focus.
The last important part of a spell is your ritual action. This just means doing a specific set of things, in a specific order, with a specific intent behind them. If we go back to our definition of imitative magic, your ritual actions are symbolic of the change you want to manifest.
Your ritual actions do not have to be complex. A very common ritual for spells is anointing and lighting a candle. Making a charm or poppet is also popular. But any action can be a magical ritual if it is done with intent and focus, in alignment with your will. Making a cup of tea or coffee can be a ritual. Running a bath can be a ritual. Cooking food can be a ritual. The only limit is your imagination.
These four things are literally all you need to cast a spell. A spell doesn’t have to be complicated or include a bunch of crystals and herbs to work. You can do an effective spell with nothing but your own mind and body.
These are perfect for tea (I recommend making sun tea) or a small treat, and great as small gifts for others.
You'll need:
3 eggs
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
pinch of fine salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp of vanilla extract (empowering and good fortune)
1 tsp of lemon extract (cleansing and purification)
1 tablespoon of natural honey (to bring sweet people into your lives, and prosperity)
150 g (1 ⅓ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
butter and flour (or non-stick baking spray) to grease the madeleine mold
A madeleine mold/pan
How to make:
In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is thick and pale yellow. This step should take 1-2 minutes using an electric stand-mixer, or a bit longer if you are whisking by hand. Remember your intentions when stirring counter clockwise and clockwise!
Add the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Next add the lemon zest, extracts, and melted butter.
Continue whisking until you have a thick and smooth batter.
Leave the batter to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350
Generously grease the madeleine mould with butter, even if it is non-stick. Another option is to use a non-stick baking spray.
Fill each madeleine mould until about 3/4 full, either with a spoon or with a piping bag filled with the batter.
Bake until the madeleine cakes have risen and are lightly golden on top. For large madeleine moulds similar to that pictured, this should take about 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.
Remove the madeleine pan from the oven, and wait a few minutes before carefully removing the cakes from the moulds.
Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack (the ridge-side facing down), and serve them warm or cold.
Here's a real tip for all you baby witches out there, diving into spellwork before anything else: Spells aren't as simple as going through the motions, and a spell probably won't work if you don't understand how to use your Will.
This is what I've been taught by my mentor who has been a witch for 25 years. You have to set your intentions and use your Will to match. What is your Will and how is it different from your Intention? This post may get long, but it's important and I haven't seen any others cover this, so please don't give up half way through!
Basically, it's like this:
Intention: your reason for a spell, your goal/what you want + ingredients to match
Your Will: the Power you put behind your spell or working
The intention part is easy. You figure out your goal, pick a spell or create a spell that uses ingredients or actions that match your intent, and then you perform it. This is what most of Tumblr will teach you how to do. While working with simply your intent can sometimes work, it's more like a coin toss because you're not actually making your spellwork as powerful as it could be.
But your Will, as I've been taught, is the most important part of any magick and is the most often overlooked. You can make magick with nothing but your intent and your Will together. Did you know that? What is your Will? It's the power you put behind your intent. Your Will is your Power.
That's right, baby witches. You have to learn how to tap in to the power around you as well as the power within yourself. This is why spells are never as simple as you think; if you can't add your Will to a spell, it will never be as powerful as you want it to be. This concept can prove difficult, so I'll try to break it down as simply as I can.
Your Will comes from the energy within you, but you can also tap into the energy around you to add to that power. This means that to find your Will you have to first learn how to:
Perceive Energy
Feel Energy
Feel your Own Energy
Touch Energy
Gather Energy Inside and Around You
Manipulate Energy
Infuse Energy with Intent
This is the basis for finding and understanding magick. Magick is all about energy, and the sooner you learn how to do these things, the sooner you'll start to realize your power as a witch. And this is why I say that spells are not as simple as Tumblr makes them; at least, they shouldn't be.
When you're performing a spell, you should be raising energy and infusing that energy with your intent. You could be adding energy to your ingredients, or simply raising it and holding it, to be released into the world when the spell is finished. That's your Will; the energy you add to your working. The stronger the energy, the stronger the spell.
A simple way to put it: Intent + Will = Power
So please do yourself a favor. Research energy. Find it, figure it out, feel it within you. Take your time to truly understand that power so you can properly perform powerful spellwork.
Learning all of this can take time and that is fine. If you take your time to work on this, you will be grateful for it in the long run. Feeling the energy that surrounds you and that comes from within you is such a beautiful thing, I promise. Energy is wonderful.
