Magic—
A Short Primer
Magic is the art of causing change by means commonly supposed to be supernatural. The methods of magic are varied, each catering to a certain climate or level of intellectual development or imagination. Simple or ceremonial, Christian or Cabalistic, all magical practices have survived because of one basic reason: they work.
That science has not yet uncovered all the secrets of the universe is questioned by few. Magic is simply the use of powers not yet recognized by science. Hypnosis, for example, was a part of the occult tradition for centuries; once it was investigated, and then recognized by the scientific community, it lost most of its mystical, supernatural tone.
Magic is, despite claims to the contrary, a very natural art. It is the use of powers that reside within us and the natural objects of our world to cause change. Magical herbalism is the use of herbs for magic.
Following is a summing-up of magical thought, condensed into simple, universal ideas. All magic in this book should be performed with these in mind.
Basic Principles of Magic
Magic is a natural science, with known avenues, by-ways, and borders, as well as principles and laws. It is well to stay within the explored territories and to observe these laws.
Harm none. It is an old Witch tradition that whatever you do will be returned to you three-fold, “three times ill or three times good.” Thus, harmful magic extracts a very high price. This rule applies to one’s self as well. Do not do anything (magically speaking) that will harm you.
If you wish to break up a love affair, kill your wife, or cause tons of money to fall out of a bank vault into your hands, look elsewhere. Such magic is never worth the consequences.
Magic requires effort. You will get out of it precisely what you put into it in terms of time, energy, and attention to ritual. If a spell requires you to travel to three different streams, climb a hill, or make a green candle, do it.
These are rituals and there are sound magical and psychological reasons for ritual. Ritual strengthens, defines, and directs magical power. Leave the ritual out and the magic will falter. Some budding magical herbalists turn away with a sigh on discovering that magic is hard work. There are no two ways about it—anything worth doing at all is worth doing well. Shortcuts rarely produce satisfactory results and can even be dangerous!
Magic is not instantaneous. Some rituals produce quick results but most work over a period of time. This is especially true concerning herbal magic. There are rituals that must be repeated several days in a row to be effective at all. Herbal magic works on vibrations and vibrations can be altered to your own purposes. But Stonehenge was not built in a day. A prosperity ritual does not instantly materialize a thousand-dollar bill in your pocket. Usually, the fruits of magic will manifest in a perfectly “normal” way, as if they were not magically induced. While this fuels the skeptic’s fire, think of it as a manifestation of the naturalness of magic.
Magic should never be performed for pay, for money tempts the magician to use the art for evil or frivolous means. If a friend hears of your magic and wants you to perform a spell or sew up a sachet for them, and they offer to pay for it, do not accept the money. It is just, however, to ask them to purchase the ingredients necessary for the spell.
Magic should never be used to play up one’s vanity or pride. When magic becomes an ego trip it will soon lose its effectiveness.
Magic can be worked for your own gain, but only if you are certain that this will not harm others.
Magic deserves a sound investment. This may mean purchasing tools, herbs, candles or whatever you will need in your art. Most of these items can be made if you are handy at forging, gardening, chandlery, and so on. It is fine to purchase your tools, though. It is one of the oldest of magical laws that you should never haggle or try to lower the price of anything that is bought for use in magic. Also, use new candles for each spell. If one spell is repeated over several nights, the same candles are used. But when a new spell is begun it is best to get new candles.
If you have regular altar candles burning in addition to your own special spell candle, these can be used several times without needing to be changed, as their basic function is to provide illumination.
Do not throw away half-burned candles. Store them to melt down at a later time to make new candles. (Your public library should have some excellent works on candle making.)
Magic is a divine art, and so the magician and all tools should be clean and pure. Keep your thoughts pure and true to your purpose at all times in magic. A wandering mind nullifies the effects of magic, while a disciplined, concentrating one will boost it.
Magic is not always serious or solemn. It is a joyous celebration and merging with the lifeforce.
Laughter and singing, poetry, and ecstatic dance can be incorporated into your rituals—whatever is within your particular talents. There are no hard and fast rules for the exact procedure and nature of rituals, so spontaneity should be encouraged and welcomed.
Magic is intent. Witches are taught that the most important factor in magic-making is the intent. You must firmly visualize in your mind’s eye the thing you wish to have happen. See it as if it has already taken place, or been brought into manifestation. This adds to the power of your magic.
In herbal magic the magician is working with two powers: those of the herbs themselves and with his or her own personal energies. Thus, the magic can sometimes be magic with the innate powers of the herbs alone, and this is one of the great advantages of herbal magic. But the addition of one’s own powers acts as a booster and charger to make these powers stronger, to give them a purpose and intent, a kind of focusing and funnelling of their powers to one specific purpose. This is the value of intent.
This is also achieved to a certain degree by the act of enchanting. This means, simply, “singing to.” When cutting herbs, sewing up sachets, or making other herbal magics, a short rune or poem is often repeated in a sing-song or monotone manner. In these poems the intent is vividly described, and this helps to reinforce the image in the mind, as well as to channel the energies of the herbs themselves. Thus, the herbs are told in no uncertain terms what they are supposed to do. The real effect of this lies not in the words spoken, but in the intent. The words simply reinforce the mind-picture.
Magic is faith. If you have no faith in your magic or within yourself, you will not get positive results. Believe!
Magic is love. Without love, the magician is powerless. Love is the strongest emotion in the universe. All magic should be performed out of love for one’s self, family, friends, neighbors, country, planet, gods. It is the spark that sets the fuel of magic bursting forth.
This book is nondenominational; it has been structured so that it can be used within any religious tradition. Religious magic is simply that clone in the name of (or with the help of) a god, goddess, or both.
In sum, magic is the natural, loving practice that taps the limitless powers of life to cause beneficial changes to ourselves, our friends and loved ones, our Earth, and even beyond.
Following are a number of short sections covering some specifics of magical procedure dealing with such topics as the best time to perform magic, the place, preparation for ritual, and a number of shorter suggestions and tips.
The Place
The best places for performing magic are hidden, secret areas far from cities and highways. Desolate and uninhabited regions are the most traditional, such as forests, ruins, mountain tops, caves, deserts; beside lightning-struck trees, earthworks, standing stones, and ancient monuments; on shining seashores, the banks of great streams, or at a crossroads where three rivers meet. If you elect to perform your magic in these places, be sure that you will be safe from accidental discovery.
Magic being practical, however, your own home can be used with good results, provided that care is taken against the sudden intrusion of outsiders, and the area is ritually purified and cleansed.
A bedroom is perhaps the most-used place, for that is the room in which we spend most of our time. Most powerful, however, is a whole room reserved exclusively for the arts of magic. There, you can house your herb cabinet, magical tools and books, dry your herbs and roots, and set up a permanent altar. Setting aside one room for magic alone is ideal, for the vibrations inside will become attuned to your workings, and will be a source of added power.
If you decide to work indoors, every week or so burn frankincense in your ‘‘magic room.’’ This clears it of negative vibrations.
The Time
The following section on when to perform magical operations includes traditional information, such as has been used for many hundreds of years. It has been used to good advantage, but that does not make it necessary or even desirable.
Magic, all magic, should be practical. In the end it does not matter what day of the week it is, or phase of the Moon, or hour of the day. What is important is the intent that the magician has in performing an act of magic. If the energies are there (from the herbs and from yourself) nothing else matters unless you believe it does.
True, the energies run in cycles. But we must remember we are tapping a universal power source through our magic. Our own bodies and the herbs we use are links with this great power. Since it is universal, it is all-encompassing. Where our Moon ebbs, another flows. All balances out in the end, so there is no deficit or credit; the energies remain constant, stable, strong.
The lifeforce of the universe, which powers our souls, gave birth to the planets, and nourishes the green things of the Earth, is timeless and eternal. Since all is linked through the lifeforce, this power can be tapped at all times, no matter what the season, or where Venus rides in the sky.
So these systems are simply traditional, to be used if you wish. Bear in mind, please, that they are unnecessary. Systems are there to aid us, but we should not enslave ourselves to them.
The best time to perform magic is at night. The Sun has set, the Moon rides high in the sky, men and women drift off to sleep. The pace of the city slows to a crawl, and all is hushed and still.
Midnight is known as the “witching hour” because it is the ideal time to perform magic.
Look to the Moon, too, to guide your actions. The Waxing Moon is the proper time to perform favorable magic (fertility, love, protection, prosperity, good health). The Waning Moon is ideal for rituals involving destruction of old habits, banishing curses and hexes, and removing illness and disease.
Even the day of the week and the hour of the day can be important. Here are charts that will enable you to choose the appropriate days and hours for your magical operations.
Sunday is ruled by the Sun
Monday is ruled by the Moon
Tuesday is ruled by Mars
Wednesday is ruled by Mercury
Thursday is ruled by Jupiter
Friday is ruled by Venus
Saturday is ruled by Saturn
The Sun rules all operations involving employers, promotions, friendships, healing, divine power, labor, world leaders.
The Moon rules spells dealing with the home, family, agriculture, cooking, clairvoyance, medicine, dreams, the sea.
Mars rules all operations of conflict, hunting, surgery, lust, physical strength, courage, politics, debates, athletics, war, contests, competitions, rituals involving men.
Mercury rules rites involving studying, learning, teaching, divination, predictions, self-improvement, communications of every kind, the mind, celibacy.
Jupiter rules all rituals of wealth, poverty, monetary matters, legal matters, honors, luck, materialism, expansion.
Venus rules all operations of love, pleasure, art, music, incense and perfume composition, partnerships, rituals involving women.
Saturn rules those operations concerning buildings, the elderly, funerals, wills, reincarnation, destroying diseases and pests, terminations, and death.
This list can he extended indefinitely with serious thought and meditation.
Note that this table is for hours of the night only. The actual length of these “hours” depends upon the period of time between sunset and sunrise the following day. To find the length of each hour, take the actual number of minutes between sunset and sunrise and then divide by twelve. This gives the number of minutes for each hour, the first hour beginning at sunset.
These lengthy calculations are not necessary, but are traditional. If you keep in mind the phase of the Moon and the day of the week and align them with your ritual, you will have positive results. Performing your magic in the planetary hour will not hurt, especially if you cannot wait for the correct day of the week.
Here is an example of how the charts can be used. Say you need a sum of money quickly to pay an unexpected bill. Prosperity rituals are ruled by Jupiter, so plan to do the ritual on Thursday during the third or tenth hour of the night, if possible. As you wish your money to increase, rather than decrease, be sure that this Thursday falls within the Waxing Moon.
You can follow the same procedure for every ritual. Find the correct day of the week, phase of the Moon, and hour (if you desire). In addition to Llewellyn’s Moon Sign Book for determining the phase of the Moon, some students use The Improved Perpetual Planetary Hour Book by Llewellyn George that lists the local times of the planetary hours day and night throughout the year for most locations in the United States, (see Bibliography).
The Altar
Some call this the altar, some the working space. An altar is the table that is the center of a religious ceremony. Whether or not your magic is religiously oriented is beside the point, however. For simplicity’s sake the working place will be referred to as the altar throughout this book.
You will need a flat surface, about two feet square, upon which to work your magic. While working outdoors, old tree stumps, flat-topped rocks, or cleared sections of the ground are often used. For in-home use, the purchase of a small, low table is perhaps necessary, although a coffee table or nightstand will do.
Most altars are erected facing north. North was anciently believed to be the direction from which power flowed. North is the realm of herbal magic, of familiars, and of midnight. Though some Witches put their altars facing east, in honor of the Sun and Moon that rise there, better results will come about if it is placed facing north.
Take a square of white cloth and lay it on your altar. It should drape to the floor. Place two candles in identical candlesticks on the two corners farthest away from you. Between them place your incense burner. Before this set down your magic knife, and to the right of this place a small jar of incense (for general working, use frankincense). Place any other needed objects (herbs, pieces of cloth, needles and thread, oils) to the left of the censer. Be sure the objects on the altar form a balanced picture.
If you will be incorporating your religion in magic, you would want to place an image or symbol of your religion on the altar, behind the censer, between the candles. A crucifix or a statue of a god or goddess works well.
Many Witches and magicians add a vase of fresh flowers and greens to give extra life to the altar. This is a particularly excellent idea, especially if you also insert a few sprigs of the herbs that are appropriate to the rite. For instance, a little rosemary gives added power to an altar set up for a rite of love.
Just prior to performing your first piece of magic on your new altar, fumigate the area with frankincense smoke. This is absolutely essential. If frankincense is not immediately available (most mail-order suppliers and religious supply shops carry it) burn rosemary leaves on your charcoal, as was the custom in ancient Greece, to purify the room.
Never forget that this is a natural magic that you are performing. It is too easy to get caught up in the little magical world of the magic room, and lose direct contact with the earth. Walk barefoot on the grass, among tall trees, and drink in the vibrations they give off.
Take trips to beaches and deserts, to rivers and other places of natural beauty and energy. The more you do this, the more you will be able to tap the hidden forces of nature.
Preparation for Magic
Make sure that you are quite alone in the house and that no one will be coming to visit you.
Shut off all heating and cooling devices. Take the phone off the hook. Close all curtains, shutters, or blinds. Lock all doors and windows so that you are perfectly secure and free from the fear of discovery. If you cannot be alone in the house, be sure that no one will bother you for a few hours. Tell the others to hold all your calls. Be adamant about this, as it is best to work magic without interruption.
It is not advisable to have friends present while working magic, as they are more often an inhibitor than a source of added power. Magic is best performed alone unless you and a friend are studying together and have found that you can pool your powers effectively.
The floor of the magic room should be freshly swept and mopped or vacuumed. If there is a fireplace near or in the room itself, light a fire, preferably oak, pine, holly, hazel, juniper, cedar, poplar, apple, or ash woods.
Tie up in a four-inch square piece of cheesecloth half a handful of the following mixture: equal parts of vervain, garden mint, basil, thyme, fennel, lavender, rosemary, hyssop, and valerian. This purification bath blend may be mixed together in advance and the sachets conveniently made up in advance. Keep them in an air-tight jar until needed.
Light a white taper and take it with the sachet into the bathroom. Run a quarter-tubful of very warm water. Toss the sachet into the water and then step into it, placing the candle in a crystal holder. Relax in the bath for several minutes, squeezing the sachet so that the herbs release their scents and oils to the water. For added purification purposes, sprinkle a bit of sea salt into the water as well.
(Note: As valerian has a peculiarly strong odor, I usually add a bit more lavender and a lot less of the ground valerian root to the mixture. This imparts a more pleasant scent.)
Relax in the bath. Feel the tensions of everyday living slipping away from you. If you wish, use a natural soap to cleanse yourself physically while the sachet cleanses you psychically. When finished, dry quickly with a soft towel. Anoint yourself with a favorite perfume or cologne (or magical oil: see chapter 6), touching the soles of your feet, wrists, and forehead. Don a robe, regular clothes, or walk naked, holding the candle before you, into your magic room.
If you do not have a bathtub, boil two quarts water, remove from heat, and add a sachet. Cover this and let stand for about an hour. Then, take a shower and after the usual soaping pour the infusion onto your body. This works fairly well. There is nothing like the magical bath, however!
Light the charcoal block with the candle and watch it sputter and spark into life. Then light the tapers, first right and then left, with the white taper. Silently blow out your purification bath taper and set aside in a safe place, to be used to begin every ritual. Pour a little incense on the charcoal and you are ready to begin to perform magic.
The use of magical dress is partly psychological, partly magical. When putting on a garment reserved for special occasions one becomes infused with the spirit of the moment. Also, a robe that is worn every time one performs magic will become infused with magical energy, thus strengthening your own each time you put it on. Magical herbalists favor green robes.
Ritual nudity is often used in magic as a symbol of purity, honesty, and mortality. It is an excellent way to contact the primal forces of nature which, after all, did not bring us into this world wearing clothing. In fact, many of the old rituals involving fertility and love specifically state that the celebrant be naked.
If a robe is not available and nudity is undesirable, wear clean clothes, preferably in the rich, earthy hues of browns and greens.
Choose the method that seems the most comfortable to you, for that is what is supremely important.
Herbal Numerology
The numbers 3, 7, and 9 are favored in herbal magic and often appear in lists of ingredients and repetitions of actions in spells and rituals. The multiples of these numbers are also favored.
Odd numbers are generally considered fortunate in magic; however, some old charms call for four ingredients, symbolizing the four elements, or directions, or winds.
Counting itself is a magical act. It lulls the mind into a semiconscious state. Often in herbal magic a period of time must elapse between two actions. When this needs to be done, either count heartbeats (a favorite practice of the Witches) or check a nearby clock.
Definitely do not wear a wristwatch, or interrupt meditation by looking at the clock. One of the small timers that rings a bell when a certain amount of time has passed might be a good investment.
Odds and Ends
Replace all sachets, amulets, and magic pillows every three months, for the power wanes with time.
Never do more than three pieces of magic a day. If you are doing two or more rituals, and one (or more) is for someone else, do your personal spell last.
When saying incantations, runes, or other spoken parts of spells, say them in a firm, clear voice. If you are afraid of being heard by neighbors, say the words slowly and quietly, with fierce concentration and conviction.
In herbal magic repetition means added power. It is fine to do a spell several times in order to give it added power. Always follow instructions carefully. It is fruitless to add extra herbs or to load up on one herb, thinking it will give it extra power.
Remember, it is not the quantity of the herbs, oils, incenses, or whatever that counts, but the quality. If you follow instructions carefully, the magic usually works.
If an herb is not available, substitute it with another of like properties, that also shares the same planetary and elemental rulers.
Keep a notebook of recipes, thoughts, and complete records of your spells, success/failure rates, etc. Also record all pertinent data, such as the phase of the Moon, astrological aspects (if you are trained in this field), Sun and Moon astrological houses, weather conditions (rain, fog, electrical storm), and so on. By studying this book every week or so, you can see how the weather and the Sun and Moon affect your magical performance. You might also want to record any dreams you have related to magic or other occult topics.
As stated before, wristwatches are definitely taboo within the magic room, as are hair pins, makeup, deodorants, shoes, socks, sandals, boots, and most kinds of metallic or plastic accessories. Jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and pendants are fine, especially if they are of magical designs (such as pentagrams, ankhs, or hexagrams), or if they are especially meaningful to you.