Felix the Cat had his bag-of-tricks, Batman had his utility belt, and witches have spells.<\/p>\n
Hollywood tells us that all a witch really needs is a good book of spells and they\u2019re in business.\u00a0 Hot, diggity-dang!\u00a0 I\u2019ll run right out and get me one of those.\u00a0 Except, aren\u2019t there any useful modern books of spells?\u00a0 The ones that I can find are kind of out of date and a lot of those spells aren\u2019t of much use any more.\u00a0 I mean, who needs a spell to keep your yams from wandering over the fence into your neighbor\u2019s yam patch at night?\u00a0 Or one to get rid of boils on your bum?\u00a0 (My health plan covers that, unless it\u2019s a pre-existing condition.)<\/p>\n
Of course, there are modern spells for love charms and making money.\u00a0 In fact, that seems to be the main focus of most of the spell books on the shelves these days.\u00a0 I guess if you want to have a spell for some other purpose, you\u2019ll just have to work it out yourself.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not an old hand at crafting spells, that might seem an intimidating task.\u00a0 But, trust me; it\u2019s as easy as pie.<\/p>\n
First off, let\u2019s be clear what we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 A spell is actually nothing more than a plan that involves magic to get something done.\u00a0 Most spells are subtle ways of injecting magic into a process so as to make it more successful.\u00a0 And magic, as we all know, comes in a wide variety of forms.\u00a0 Most magic workers find they are more adept at one or two forms and tend to stick with them for most of their spells.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t surprising since specialization happens in every art form.\u00a0 Magic works in direct proportion to the amount of will power put into it, so most magic requires a good deal of mind work and motivation.\u00a0 Spells commonly use what most would consider to be psychological tricks.<\/p>\n
For instance:\u00a0 A few years back, a fellow came to me and said he was suffering from writer\u2019s block.\u00a0 He just couldn\u2019t seem to write anything useful and he was getting frustrated over how long it had been going on.\u00a0 By the way, this guy was a die-hard typewriter user.\u00a0 Why, I\u2019ll never know.\u00a0 But I made use of the fact in my spell.\u00a0 After a little questioning, I created a spell that got rid of his writer\u2019s block in one week.\u00a0 Here were my instructions to him:<\/p>\n
1. On day #1, sit down at your typewriter.\u00a0 Clear everything off the desk with the exception of the typewriter and a stack of blank paper.
\n2. Insert a sheet of blank paper into the roller and put your fingers on the keyboard.\u00a0 But do not type anything.
\n3. Sit like this for precisely one minute.
\n4. Take out the paper and burn it.
\n5. On day #2, sit down and repeat steps #2 through 4.
\n6. On day #3, put the paper in the typewriter and sit for two minutes without typing anything on it.
\n7. Then, type one key, any key.
\n8. Take out the paper and burn it.
\n9. On day #4, repeat #6.
\n10. Then, type a complete sentence\u2026 anything.
\n11. Remove the paper and burn it.
\n12. On day #5, repeat #6.
\n13. Type the same sentence that you typed for step #10.
\n14. Then type, \u201cI am a GOOD writer.\u201d
\n15. Remove the paper and burn it.
\n16. On day #6, roll in the paper but don\u2019t type anything.
\n17. Look at it for ten minutes.
\n18. Leave the paper in the roller and exit the room.
\n19. Do not return to that room until the next day.
\n20. On day #7, type anything you want.<\/p>\n
I had no assurance that this spell would work but I thought it would because of what I knew about the man and his habits.\u00a0 He was what I would call a compulsive writer.\u00a0 By forcing him to go \u2018cold turkey\u2019 about his writing but giving him a specific \u2018cure\u2019 for his writer\u2019s block so he\u2019d be motivated to follow my instructions, I felt he would bottle up so much writing energy that it would nearly explode from him on the seventh day.\u00a0 And it did\u2026 right on cue.\u00a0 He called me up that night and told me he\u2019d written twenty-two pages and wanted to do more but was too tired.\u00a0 He thanked me profusely and then hung up.\u00a0 I learned the next day that he\u2019d gone back to finish a paragraph and ended up writing another five pages.<\/p>\n
The magic in this spell is obvious.\u00a0 I relied upon the person\u2019s own compulsions to break the barriers down that his mind had put in place.\u00a0 I knew that most so-called writer\u2019s block was because the unconscious was telling the writer that they had to change something in their lives and\/or story before the creative juices would flow again.\u00a0 I just gave him the time necessary to make those changes while providing something that he believed would make that change for him.\u00a0 The spell didn\u2019t actually make those changes; he did.\u00a0 But while he was doing that, I gave him a reason to accept a change in his normal routine.\u00a0 I gave him a distraction as well as making him hopeful that the change he wanted, the breaking of his writer\u2019s block, would happen and happen at a specific point.\u00a0 Just an old Jedi mind trick.<\/p>\n
A lot of spells are like that.\u00a0 They use the predictable changes and energies around a situation and give them purpose and direction.\u00a0 How was I able to come up with this particular spell?\u00a0 Well, the formula is actually something I learned years ago when reading The Art of War.\u00a0 The solution to a problem usually lies within the proper description of the problem.\u00a0 Remember that the so-called \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 was something that the man was producing himself.\u00a0 And I knew that most of the time, a \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 is nothing more than the unconscious trying to adjust things so the natural creativity of the person can work better.\u00a0 All I did was use that knowledge and make up a spell that gave his unconscious enough time to do its thing without the guy feeling frustrated all the time (which undoubtedly would have hampered his unconscious from doing what it was supposed to do).\u00a0 In other words, I used what I knew about his condition and provided a reason for him to allow the problem to take care of itself.\u00a0 And it worked.\u00a0 I found out later that he\u2019d taken the time he would have normally used for writing and spent a good deal of it with a lady he\u2019d met a few weeks before his \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 had appeared.\u00a0 Their relationship blossomed and actually turned into an intense romance that lasted well after he was done with the book.\u00a0 He told me that one of his female characters had to be rewritten so she acted more like his girl friend and that had been what the story really needed.<\/p>\n
A good part of most spells relies on psychology.\u00a0 Understanding how people think and what kinds of things motivate them is a key factor.\u00a0 But also knowing how other things function is necessary in making successful spells.\u00a0 Much of the time, spells appear not to have anything that connects them to the purpose or goal of the spell.\u00a0 How would burning a candle help find a lost pet?\u00a0 Why would white rose petals worn in your right shoe help you find a lover?<\/p>\n
As magic users, one of the first things we learn is that everything is connected.\u00a0 Simply because something appears not to be connected doesn\u2019t mean that it won\u2019t make a difference in how things work down the line.\u00a0 Just as every parent knows, what is done with a child at the age of two has a great deal to do with how they behave at the age of twenty-two.\u00a0 Knowing how a small change here can make a big change there is the kind of thing needed to craft a good spell.\u00a0 Of course, such knowledge requires a good deal of education.\u00a0 Witches (and, for that matter, all magic workers) are always curious\u2026 about everything.\u00a0 But I believe the biggest thing that sets magic users apart from others is that one concept, everything\u2019s connected.\u00a0 Anyone who works magic believes that concept is true.\u00a0 And because of it, we see the world differently from how much of the population sees it.\u00a0 For us, thinking that there is a connection between the rose petals and finding a lover is not outrageous.\u00a0 We can\u2019t always justify or explain how something is connected or how it influences things, but there is no doubt in our minds that it is so.\u00a0 For us, this is not bad science or crazy thinking; we like to think of it as \u2018wisdom\u2019.\u00a0 Whether it is wisdom or just a different way of viewing the world, it works for us.<\/p>\n
Hollywood and the entertainment media in general tend to portray spell crafting as some super mysterious way of causing fantastic events.\u00a0 While that might sell movie tickets or books, the truth is that most spells are rather bland.\u00a0 No big flashes, no swirling smoke, no freezing time\u2026 sorry.\u00a0 Just getting stuff done.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t discount the importance of mystery.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s necessary for things to work properly.\u00a0 Take the spell mentioned above about getting rid of the writer\u2019s block for instance.\u00a0 If I\u2019d told the guy, \u201cHey, give it a rest for a while; get out a little more and have some fun,\u201d he probably wouldn\u2019t have taken the advice and certainly wouldn\u2019t have found some needed distraction so his unconscious could work out the kink in the story.\u00a0 I purposely camouflaged what I was doing so it would work better.\u00a0 Like I said: old Jedi mind trick.<\/p>\n
Remember that many people ascribe powers and attributes to us that are absolutely untrue.\u00a0 They may think we\u2019re strange (well, that might be a little true), some think we\u2019re even evil.\u00a0 They might believe we can fly on broomsticks.\u00a0 Then again, they might think we\u2019re totally bonkers.\u00a0 But they also believe\u2026 or at least want to believe\u2026 that we can twitch our nose and make things happen.\u00a0 (I\u2019ve tried for years to learn how to twitch my nose that way, but so far\u2026)<\/p>\n
Anyway, a bit of drama or skillful misdirection can be useful sometimes, especially with non-magic workers.\u00a0 It could be argued that this doesn\u2019t help dispel (Get it\u2026dis + spell?\u00a0 Ha, ha.\u00a0 Well, anyway\u2026) the idea that we are aligned with \u2018evil forces\u2019 but I think that is another whole subject.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of using the person\u2019s own energies for empowering the spell.\u00a0 They can\u2019t expect us to do everything.\u00a0 Besides, many who come to us for spells are frustrated and don\u2019t know or believe that they have the power to make the desired changes in their own lives.\u00a0 Having them be the source of the spell\u2019s power is one way to give them a sense of \u2018ownership\u2019 that will help them in more than just that one instance.<\/p>\n
Crafting spells is an art, and a very useful one at that.\u00a0 Learning how to do it for others is part of our bag-of-tricks.\u00a0 But remember that whatever you create, you are responsible for.\u00a0 Whether you work magic for yourself or for others, the rules are the same:<\/p>\n
1. Be careful what you invoke.\u00a0 (You just might get it!)
\n2. Don\u2019t make something you can\u2019t un-make.\u00a0 (If you made that mess, you might have to clean it up!)
\n3. What you do will always come back to you.\u00a0 (If you\u2019re lucky, it will only be threefold!)
\n4. Do good.\u00a0 (Don\u2019t be mean, nasty, ugly,\u2026 or stupid!\u00a0 See #3!)<\/p>\n
Finally, just a word about doing spell work for others:\u00a0 Just because you can, doesn\u2019t mean you should.\u00a0 You are under no obligation to do something just because somebody asked you to.\u00a0 In fact, the only obligation you have is to be a responsible magic worker (see the above rules).\u00a0 Always, always be mindful of what your own spirituality tells you and be true to it.\u00a0 The best spell is the one that you do on yourself to make you into a better child of the gods.\u00a0 Blessed be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Felix the Cat had his bag-of-tricks, Batman had his utility belt, and witches have spells. Hollywood tells us that all a witch really needs is a good book of spells and they\u2019re in business.\u00a0 Hot, diggity-dang!\u00a0 I\u2019ll run right out and get me one of those.\u00a0 Except, aren\u2019t there any useful modern books of spells?\u00a0 The ones that I can find are kind of out of date and a lot of those spells aren\u2019t of much use any more.\u00a0 I mean, who needs a spell to keep your yams from wandering over the fence into your neighbor\u2019s yam patch at night?\u00a0 Or one to get rid of boils on your bum?\u00a0 (My health plan covers that, unless it\u2019s a pre-existing condition.) Of course, there are modern spells for love charms and making money.\u00a0 In fact, that seems to be the main focus of most of the spell books on the shelves these days.\u00a0 I guess if you want to have a spell for some other purpose, you\u2019ll just have to work it out yourself.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not an old hand at crafting spells, that might seem an intimidating task.\u00a0 But, trust me; it\u2019s as easy as pie. First off, let\u2019s be clear what we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 A spell is actually nothing more than a plan that involves magic to get something done.\u00a0 Most spells are subtle ways of injecting magic into a process so as to make it more successful.\u00a0 And magic, as we all know, comes in a wide variety of forms.\u00a0 Most magic workers find they are more adept at one or two forms and tend to stick with them for most of their spells.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t surprising since specialization happens in every art form.\u00a0 Magic works in direct proportion to the amount of will power put into it, so most magic requires a good deal of mind work and motivation.\u00a0 Spells commonly use what most would consider to be psychological tricks. For instance:\u00a0 A few years back, a fellow came to me and said he was suffering from writer\u2019s block.\u00a0 He just couldn\u2019t seem to write anything useful and he was getting frustrated over how long it had been going on.\u00a0 By the way, this guy was a die-hard typewriter user.\u00a0 Why, I\u2019ll never know.\u00a0 But I made use of the fact in my spell.\u00a0 After a little questioning, I created a spell that got rid of his writer\u2019s block in one week.\u00a0 Here were my instructions to him: 1. On day #1, sit down at your typewriter.\u00a0 Clear everything off the desk with the exception of the typewriter and a stack of blank paper. 2. Insert a sheet of blank paper into the roller and put your fingers on the keyboard.\u00a0 But do not type anything. 3. Sit like this for precisely one minute. 4. Take out the paper and burn it. 5. On day #2, sit down and repeat steps #2 through 4. 6. On day #3, put the paper in the typewriter and sit for two minutes without typing anything on it. 7. Then, type one key, any key. 8. Take out the paper and burn it. 9. On day #4, repeat #6. 10. Then, type a complete sentence\u2026 anything. 11. Remove the paper and burn it. 12. On day #5, repeat #6. 13. Type the same sentence that you typed for step #10. 14. Then type, \u201cI am a GOOD writer.\u201d 15. Remove the paper and burn it. 16. On day #6, roll in the paper but don\u2019t type anything. 17. Look at it for ten minutes. 18. Leave the paper in the roller and exit the room. 19. Do not return to that room until the next day. 20. On day #7, type anything you want. I had no assurance that this spell would work but I thought it would because of what I knew about the man and his habits.\u00a0 He was what I would call a compulsive writer.\u00a0 By forcing him to go \u2018cold turkey\u2019 about his writing but giving him a specific \u2018cure\u2019 for his writer\u2019s block so he\u2019d be motivated to follow my instructions, I felt he would bottle up so much writing energy that it would nearly explode from him on the seventh day.\u00a0 And it did\u2026 right on cue.\u00a0 He called me up that night and told me he\u2019d written twenty-two pages and wanted to do more but was too tired.\u00a0 He thanked me profusely and then hung up.\u00a0 I learned the next day that he\u2019d gone back to finish a paragraph and ended up writing another five pages. The magic in this spell is obvious.\u00a0 I relied upon the person\u2019s own compulsions to break the barriers down that his mind had put in place.\u00a0 I knew that most so-called writer\u2019s block was because the unconscious was telling the writer that they had to change something in their lives and\/or story before the creative juices would flow again.\u00a0 I just gave him the time necessary to make those changes while providing something that he believed would make that change for him.\u00a0 The spell didn\u2019t actually make those changes; he did.\u00a0 But while he was doing that, I gave him a reason to accept a change in his normal routine.\u00a0 I gave him a distraction as well as making him hopeful that the change he wanted, the breaking of his writer\u2019s block, would happen and happen at a specific point.\u00a0 Just an old Jedi mind trick. A lot of spells are like that.\u00a0 They use the predictable changes and energies around a situation and give them purpose and direction.\u00a0 How was I able to come up with this particular spell?\u00a0 Well, the formula is actually something I learned years ago when reading The Art of War.\u00a0 The solution to a problem usually lies within the proper description of the problem.\u00a0 Remember that the so-called \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 was something that the man was producing himself.\u00a0 And I knew that most of the time, a \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 is nothing more than the unconscious trying to adjust things so the natural creativity of the person can work better.\u00a0 All I did was use that knowledge and make up a spell that gave his unconscious enough time to do its thing without the guy feeling frustrated all the time (which undoubtedly would have hampered his unconscious from doing what it was supposed to do).\u00a0 In other words, I used what I knew about his condition and provided a reason for him to allow the problem to take care of itself.\u00a0 And it worked.\u00a0 I found out later that he\u2019d taken the time he would have normally used for writing and spent a good deal of it with a lady he\u2019d met a few weeks before his \u2018writer\u2019s block\u2019 had appeared.\u00a0 Their relationship blossomed and actually turned into an intense romance that lasted well after he was done with the book.\u00a0 He told me that one of his female characters had to be rewritten so she acted more like his girl friend and that had been what the story really needed. A good part of most spells relies on psychology.\u00a0 Understanding how people think and what kinds of things motivate them is a key factor.\u00a0 But also knowing how other things function is necessary in making successful spells.\u00a0 Much of the time, spells appear not to have anything that connects them to the purpose or goal of the spell.\u00a0 How would burning a candle help find a lost pet?\u00a0 Why would white rose petals worn in your right shoe help you find a lover? As magic users, one of the first things we learn is that everything is connected.\u00a0 Simply because something appears not to be connected doesn\u2019t mean that it won\u2019t make a difference in how things work down the line.\u00a0 Just as every parent knows, what is done with a child at the age of two has a great deal to do with how they behave at the age of twenty-two.\u00a0 Knowing how a small change here can make a big change there is the kind of thing needed to craft a good spell.\u00a0 Of course, such knowledge requires a good deal of education.\u00a0 Witches (and, for that matter, all magic workers) are always curious\u2026 about everything.\u00a0 But I believe the biggest thing that sets magic users apart from others is that one concept, everything\u2019s connected.\u00a0 Anyone who works magic believes that concept is true.\u00a0 And because of it, we see the world differently from how much of the population sees it.\u00a0 For us, thinking that there is a connection between the rose petals and finding a lover is not outrageous.\u00a0 We can\u2019t always justify or explain how something is connected or how it influences things, but there is no doubt in our minds that it is so.\u00a0 For us, this is not bad science or crazy thinking; we like to think of it as \u2018wisdom\u2019.\u00a0 Whether it is wisdom or just a different way of viewing the world, it works for us. Hollywood and the entertainment media in general tend to portray spell crafting as some super mysterious way of causing fantastic events.\u00a0 While that might sell movie tickets or books, the truth is that most spells are rather bland.\u00a0 No big flashes, no swirling smoke, no freezing time\u2026 sorry.\u00a0 Just getting stuff done.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t discount the importance of mystery.\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s necessary for things to work properly.\u00a0 Take the spell mentioned above about getting rid of the writer\u2019s block for instance.\u00a0 If I\u2019d told the guy, \u201cHey, give it a rest for a while; get out a little more and have some fun,\u201d he probably wouldn\u2019t have taken the advice and certainly wouldn\u2019t have found some needed distraction so his unconscious could work out the kink in the story.\u00a0 I purposely camouflaged what I was doing so it would work better.\u00a0 Like I said: old Jedi mind trick. Remember that many people ascribe powers and attributes to us that are absolutely untrue.\u00a0 They may think we\u2019re strange (well, that might be a little true), some think we\u2019re even evil.\u00a0 They might believe we can fly on broomsticks.\u00a0 Then again, they might think we\u2019re totally bonkers.\u00a0 But they also believe\u2026 or at least want to believe\u2026 that we can twitch our nose and make things happen.\u00a0 (I\u2019ve tried for years to learn how to twitch my nose that way, but so far\u2026) Anyway, a bit of drama or skillful misdirection can be useful sometimes, especially with non-magic workers.\u00a0 It could be argued that this doesn\u2019t help dispel (Get it\u2026dis + spell?\u00a0 Ha, ha.\u00a0 Well, anyway\u2026) the idea that we are aligned with \u2018evil forces\u2019 but I think that is another whole subject.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of using the person\u2019s own energies for empowering the spell.\u00a0 They can\u2019t expect us to do everything.\u00a0 Besides, many who come to us for spells are frustrated and don\u2019t know or believe that they have the power to make the desired changes in their own lives.\u00a0 Having them be the source of the spell\u2019s power is one way to give them a sense of \u2018ownership\u2019 that will help them in more than just that one instance. Crafting spells is an art, and a very useful one at that.\u00a0 Learning how to do it for others is part of our bag-of-tricks.\u00a0 But remember that whatever you create, you are responsible for.\u00a0 Whether you work magic for yourself or for others, the rules are the same: 1. Be careful what you invoke.\u00a0 (You just might get it!) 2. Don\u2019t make something you can\u2019t un-make.\u00a0 (If you made that mess, you might have to clean it up!) 3. What you do will always come back to you.\u00a0 (If you\u2019re lucky, it will only be threefold!) 4. Do good.\u00a0 (Don\u2019t be mean, nasty, ugly,\u2026 or stupid!\u00a0 See #3!) Finally, just a word about doing spell work for others:\u00a0 Just because you can, doesn\u2019t mean you should.\u00a0 You are under no obligation to do something just because…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}