☆~Spellcraft for Beginners~☆
Since magic is such a personal and individualized practice, you may find that your best spells will be ones you’ve written and performed yourself. This may sound complicated, but it’s only as simple (or ornate) as you’d like to make it.
Start by getting a clear idea of your goal and get a mental image of what that will look like (ex, for a happiness, you would want a clear vision of yourself being happy going about your daily activities). This is arguably the most important part; you can’t have a successful spell if you don’t know what it means for it to be a success. Meditate on it, describe it in detail, but don’t begin anything until you have a firm idea in your head.
After this, decide what type of spell you want to create. A candle spell for a quick result, or something to carry for long-term use? Do you want it to be simple, like more general happiness in your life, or more in depth, like to earn a specific job position by the end of the month? Try to oriente your spell to be themed to your goal.
Here are a couple popular methods to get you started:
- Small candle = quick results, short term, but only a small burst of power
- Medium candles = burned over a few sessions, gives the spell length, effects last longer, but typically slows down the appearance of immediate results
- Large candles = burned in sessions over weeks or months, contains much more power, lasts much longer, but can take the most time before results are seen
🔮 Sachets, Charms, Enchanted Jewelry
- Sachets, herb pillows, etc. are quick to make and are designed for a slow release of magic over time
- Charms usually have an inherently magical function making it unnecessary to charge them, but while they last the longest, they are usually not as powerful as other spells
- Enchanting jewelry or tokens mimics a charm, which makes them easy to disguise and mundane objects with secret magical functions, but they must be periodically recharged to retain their magic
- String/cord is an excellent symbol for many things, making it an ideal representation. For example, in a binding, you could tie a black string around a doll or poppet to symbolize the magic “tying them up”. You can also tie it to yourself and a symbol of someone else to link you two, or tie it and cut it to break a bond with someone.
- Knots are excellent tools for storing magic and energy until it is time to be released. This way, you could put a spell (like a spell for money) into the cord and tie a knot, and then later, when you need that money, you can untie the knot to release the magic of the spell.
- Verbal power can be the strongest method of channeling, your voice and your words are sacred and can be used to summon a lot of your power. Chanting, singing, performing poetry, reading spells aloud, or simply speaking your intent in a commanding way can be a spell all it’s own. You may feel shy at first, but many witches over time develop what can be called their “Summoner’s Voice” which is a very serious, powerful manner of speaking that you only use to cast magic, which makes it uniquely powerful.
- Written spells are just as powerful, because it is still using words and language, which contain the natural power of change. Writing out a spell, poem, song, affirmation (ex, “I am healthy”), prayer, etc. can be a stand-alone spell as well. You can also sleep on your writing, place magical items on the page, or especially burn it to release its magic.
Decide if you want to add anything to your spell to add energy to it. Performing only verbal spells can be very efficient, but it is also terribly exhausting as it draws entirely on your energy.
Spell ingredients are added so that some of the energy added comes from something other than you. Herbs, crystals, metals, etc. all vibrate with their own energy which, if added properly, can contribute to your spell and make it stronger/last longer/go into effect faster/etc.
To figure out if something will be beneficial to your spell, you can try to sense it’s vibrations or look up common associations. For example, if you are doing a love spell, you could look up and find that yarrow and rose quartz both commonly resonate with love, which would make both of them suitable for your spell.
Ideas for what to add to your spell to make it stronger:
🔮 Crystals are so popular in witchcraft because there are a lot of them vibrating with lots of different frequencies, giving you lots of options for what to use for your spell. Set them in designs, put them on top of your written spells or sigils, add them to spell bags, or even just hold them during your spell and carry them afterwards to help give your spell focus.
🔮 Herbs function like crystals, but unfortunately can’t be recharged as well. However, they pack more initial energy and typically have more specific associations (ex, whereas rose quartz may just resonate with love in general, an herb like black medic might be as specific as “love, but only between young adults which ends up leading more to separate self-discovery and individual growth than to holy matrimony”). The downside to herbs, as amazing as they are, is that they demand A LOT of studying to be used properly. Herbs can be very dangerous, especially when taken internally, and require as much attention, education, and caution as chemicals and medication. (For example, if someone you know has Crohn’s Disease, and you as the witch look up associations for stomach pain, arriving at chamomile to help soothe their stomach, they could end up in the ER with severe stomach cramps. Many herbs conflict with medications, especially antidepressants, sleep medication, and birth control, so read and study and above all TALK TO YOUR GODDAMNED DOCTOR IF YOU WANT TO GET ON HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS OR WANT TO INGEST HERBS AS PART OF YOUR PRACTICE.)
🔮 Insence that you associate with your goal, or if you don’t/can’t use fire, use scented water or oil warmers can add a great boost to the spell, and can be designated and lit continuously afterwards to keep energy going into the spell if it is long-term.
🔮 Oils (acting like concentrated versions of the herb) can be more potent than the dried plant. Use it as incense, to anoint yourself or your tools to give them a boost. (Use extreme caution, oil extracts can cause serious harm if you don’t research them first!)
🔮 Colors can be used to your advantage as well! Color assocations are very personal, however, so be sure to only use a color if it actually evokes the desired feelings out of you. For example, if you’re doing a spell for stress relief, and green relaxes you, use green candles, cloths, or crystals even if most spells would call for blue.
Choosing where and when to perform your spell can give more power to your spell. A spell for releasing emotional baggage would do well performed on the full moon, and a spell to become more beautiful would have the most help in spring. Some spells happen spontaneously, when you couldn’t care less what planet is in which house or what day of the week it is, and this is perfectly fine as well. Sometimes waiting too long to perform a spell can kill the momentum you had when writing it, but some spells need a lot of planning.
Some things you can consider:
Time and date can have personal associations as well, so while some people associate fall with the end of a cycle, you may see it as the original beginning.
Again, your spells can be as simple or as complicated as you want. They don’t have to fit any template or style. This is just to get you started and to help you along when you’re first starting, but you’ll realise the more you practice that you do have your own style and method and associations, and that will lend your spells the basic power they would be nothing without~☆
