‘Star light, star bright… I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.’
I was five years old, holding my mother’s hand as I searched the evening sky for the first star to appear. I remember the happiness I felt when I spotted it. I remember repeating the nursery rhyme. I remember the excitement as I sent my wish to a universe that I knew was alive. And I remember that my wish came true.
I had found the place inside myself where anything was possible.
Remember the power of your childhood wishes made on a star, blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or sending a letter to Santa? Remember the fairy tales and story books, TV shows, movies and online games featuring Witches and wizards, fairy godmothers and magicians, and even little girls and boys fighting demons, riding dragons and wearing ruby red slippers? You learned that the power had been inside of you all along.
We’re adults now, but we still long for that feeling and that power. We long for an affirmation to repeat, a wand to wave, a spell to chant that will make our dreams come true. But by now you know what it takes for real, divine magic to manifest. And it’s a lot easier, and simpler, than most people think.
People usually think a spell is a set of secret words that will, with special timing and ingredients, make magic for them. And the words usually rhyme. The last part is true – a spell is an incantation, an enchantment: words that originally meant singing a charm.
In almost every religious tradition, letters and language, images and symbols have sacred and magical power and Wicca is no different. And it turns out that what our spellcasting ancestors knew is being proven by modern science – rhyming has a powerful and positive effect on the listener’s mind, emotions and inclinations. In other words, spells alter your consciousness. And as you’ve already experienced, when you alter your consciousness, magic begins to manifest.
Spellcasting takes us to the place inside where anything is possible. In that sacred place within, magic awakens and we’re able to make things happen in our lives and in the world. But as we explored in the chapter on magic, it doesn’t work the way most people, including a lot of Wiccans and Witches, think it does…
I was taught the basic approach to spellcasting that most people continue to practice today:
Sometimes this approach works. But often it doesn’t, leaving people wondering why not. Just as when the Law of Attraction doesn’t work, they wonder if they didn’t believe deeply enough. Did they let doubt creep in and spoil the spell? Maybe they didn’t use the right ingredients or do it at the right time of the month; or perhaps they need another spell, a new script, a different rhyme? Are there secrets they didn’t know?
There are, and if you’ve skipped ahead to this chapter, hoping to find the simple and easy secrets of successful spellcasting, I’ll share them with you now, but you’ll have to go back to Chapter 1 to unlock the real power. Here’s why:
There’s a fundamental, even fatal, flaw in the traditional approach to spellcasting. Fix it and you’re on your way to a magical life. The old model of magic treats the universe as if it’s inanimate matter that we can will into whatever form or manifestation we want. Spells are formulas and the universe a machine – just use the right words, ingredients and gestures, push the button and the cosmic vending machine delivers your goodies. Or, in the really old model, the universe bends to your will and does your bidding.
You cannot make real magic by imposing your will on Creation. That attitude is contrary to the heart and soul of Wicca.
Isaac Newton’s physics explain only part of how the universe works: the part that has created modern wealth and destruction. But in the last 100 years, quantum physics has created a paradigm shift in our understanding of reality. We now know that there are more than three dimensions and very different laws of physics operating in those dimensions, perhaps even realms of Spirit.
In quantum reality, everything is interconnected energy that our consciousness and expectations seem to be able to affect. Think it, especially in the altered states of consciousness we’ve been exploring, and your intention can often manifest.
This is the underlying purpose of meditation with a focus or mantra, and of visualizing, imagining and setting your intention, which are essentials of magic and spells (along with affirmations and the Law of Attraction). Raising energy and other ecstatic practices also alter your consciousness, your emotions and your physical energies, all of which are required for successful spellcasting.
Wicca and traditional cultures that practice shamanism cultivate spiritual technologies that work with this understanding of altered consciousness and an energetically interconnected reality. When you master practices laid out in Wicca Made Easy that generate heightened states of awareness and sensitivity achieved by wicce, shamans, yogis, healers and others, you too can have a remarkable, transformative and healing impact on the outcome of events. In a very real sense, spellcasting is quantum magic.
But as you expand your awareness and open your heart, you’ll discover that you are not living within a merely quantum mechanical universe. And we’re not the masters of quantum Creation, entitled to impose our altered consciousness and will upon it for our own ends. You require something even more profound than quantum consciousness for real magic and spells to work.
Magic happens when your mind clears, your heart opens and you recognize that Creation is alive and sacred. The energy you work with when you cast a spell is sacred, and so are you. Your thoughts, willpower, feelings and physical exertions are all expressions of divine energy – just as Air, Fire, Water and Earth, all of Nature, are expressions of divine energy. When you awaken to, experience and honor the divine energy of life, you’ll make real magic and cast spells that work.
The real secret of successful spellcasting
is your connection to divinity.
When you cast a spell, you’re working in partnership with the vital, Sacred Source of Creation. You’re also going to the holy well of your own inner divinity, drawing up that energy and giving it shape and form in a sacred world.
A spell is an expression of your own empowerment, rather than the helplessness that often spurs people to pray for the intervention of God. When you cast a spell for love or money, health or inspiration, peace or empowerment, you’re expressing your faith in yourself, and in Creation, to create the life you deserve – a life in which you’re able to fulfill your potential, your passions, your purpose. A spell is an expression of your own sacred power to make that life, in harmony and partnership with the divinity of the world of which you’re an integral part.
Casting spells is just one way of making magic, one way of experiencing the magic of Creation, but it’s one of the most creative, joyful and artistic. When you cast spells, you become an artist working with the palette of the seen and unseen, of Spirit and Nature, energy and life. Casting spells, you co-create with the Divine, giving shape, beauty and life to its infinite potential.
So, let’s cast a spell.
Why are you going to cast your spell? What is your goal? What extra bit of help, healing, strength or creative energy do you need? Is it prosperity, a new job, a new home, a new love? Do you want to get rid of old habits, problems, patterns? What is your vision for your future? What would change if you could manifest magic in your life?
Shamanic practices have always been used for practical, real-world needs – where should someone live or look for love; what was the illness afflicting someone and what would cure it; what was the purpose of someone’s life and how should they fulfill it; who were the guardians and guides willing to help someone? They are all appropriate reasons to cast a spell.
I love the term. It evokes kinship, a harmony of feeling and natural agreement. Sympathetic magic is the casting of spells using symbols, words and objects that connect your soul to the Divine, and using symbolic actions to manifest your goal. The Green Man magic (Planting seeds of change practice in Chapter 8) was an example: you planted a seed in a pot of soil, took care of it every day and as the seed grew, so did the manifestation of your goal symbolized by the seed and nurtured by your daily meditations, incantations and actions.
Your spell is an artistic, symbolic enactment of your goal using objects and activities that represent or are associated with that goal. This is where the use of power objects, potions, incense, candles, all the props and visuals, come into play (you’ll learn about these in Chapter 11).
The Table of Correspondences and Chapter 11 provide guidance in choosing your creative palette. Make your list and gather what you’ll need to cast your spell – herbs and oils for incenses or potions; candles to carve; a square of fabric; a piece of yarn or ribbons of the appropriate colors; parchment paper and a pen for a talisman, sigil or other writing; ripe fruit and dark chocolate; a loaf of black bread and a thimble of honey; three white feathers found at the beach; the rose quartz necklace your mother wore or a nautilus shell in which you can hear the ocean singing; a silver cup and a black-handled knife; a wand of willow and a copper pentacle. The possibilities are as infinite as your creativity.
You can make magic with anything that captures and expresses your imagination and your growing understanding of Creation’s web of connection. And you can cast a spell without anything at all except your mind, courage and heart, your energy and your connection to the Divine.
Spellcasting is both craft and art, and once you’ve developed your skills and confidence, your knowledge of your palette and yourself, it’s a gorgeously creative process. For a spell to work, you need to put yourself into it, which is why as soon as you’re ready, you’ll write your own script rather than relying on someone else’s.
Reciprocity is a wise law of Nature and therefore magic: give something when you’re asking to receive something.
Making an offering reminds you that spellcasting, even when it’s about self-care, is never selfish. Your offering should be freely and sincerely made with genuine gratitude and generosity. And an offering related to your spell creates balance and harmony – like making a donation of clothes that no longer fit you to Dress for Success if you’re doing magic for a new job or business success.
Magic and spellcasting work with Nature’s energies and rhythms. You’re going to time your spells just the way farmers time their work. They know the cycles of the seasons and the powers of the Moon’s phases – they don’t plant a seed when they should be harvesting or water when they should weed.
Banishing during a full Moon is like trying to swim against the tide: the energies literally push you, or your goal, in the opposite direction. As you’ve learned from your Sabbat and lunar rites, working with the cycles of the Moon, Earth, Sun and cosmos is like riding a great wave – you’ll go further, faster and more easily. With practice, it will become second nature to determine the best time of day, week, season and/or lunar phase to cast your spell or create a ritual:
Yourself, your space, your tools and your intention.
See Chapter 6.
The next step is to acknowledge and feel your connection with divinity. The old phrase is to invoke Goddess or God. It’s an invitation for the Sacred to join you in your magical circle and aid you in the spell you’re shaping. You draw the Goddess or God, or non-gendered divinity, up from within yourself and invite Her/Him/Them/It to join you from the Other World and from the natural world that surrounds and sustains you.
While traditionally we’ve related to deity in mostly human terms, Wicca also honors the innate divinity of all of Creation beyond human metaphor and gender. The Table of Correspondences and the chapters on Nature, Goddess and God are good starting places for determining which deity or aspect of divinity is most appropriate for the goal of your spell. Communion with divinity, gratitude, respect and reverence are the posture from which to invite the aid of divinity as you cast your spell.
Spells need energy to work – divine energy from within and without. You need the energies of your own spirit, mind, heart and body. All of the steps thus far open you to receive these energies and help you to raise or generate them.
In addition to those steps, the breathing practices you’ve mastered connect you to the Air, to the green plants and the divine web of life; grounding connects you to the energy of the Earth; casting circle opens your heart and connects you to the Divine and to others in the circle.
Ecstatic practices like chanting, dancing, running and drumming all alter consciousness, body and soul create a channel to and for natural energies and ‘raise’ physical energy for you to draw upon as you cast your spell. And above all, you need the right energy: the energy of divine love.
You’ll feel the moment when the energies peak. Traditionally, it’s directed through your hands into a visualized ‘cone of power’ rising over the altar in the circle’s center. The energies move into your thought form, the visualization of your spell’s goal, on the Akashic or energy plain.
It’s like sending a current of energy into the field of infinite potential, or planting a seed in the womb of Creation, and since that field and womb are part of a living sacred Oneness, gratitude, respect, reverence and love are the precondition for sending energy. And I always send some of that energy as an offering, reciprocating for what I’m asking to receive/create.
Some of the most important magic and spellcasting you’ll ever do is what I call Grail Magic. You’re already doing it with meditation, breathing and grounding as you open yourself – body, mind and spirit – to the blessing powers of the Divine.
The energies remain within the circle and within you. You can also direct them to whatever your goal may be: healing, enlightenment, energizing or simply communion. When you’re done, when you’re rested, recharged and inspired, return the remaining energies to their source, with gratitude. Just as the circle is a cauldron in which you’re transformed, you are a Grail in which the Divine makes its magic.
Setting and releasing your spell is like tying the knot at the end of a thread when you’re done sewing. It locks your energy and intention into place and releases or sends it off to take form. Another way to set your spell – as long as you approach spellcasting with reverence for the divine energy you’re working with – is to use the old phrase ‘As I do will, so mote it be.’
Gratitude is another secret to successful spellcasting. Make your offering before you close circle, and follow through afterward if it involves actions in daily life.
Any physical expression of your spell, like a talisman, candle or other expression, should be kept in a place of respect, such as your altar or other safe spot, until the spell is fulfilled, and then it may be returned to the essential elements from which it was originally made, again with thanks.
This is the final step, which most people simply refer to as Believing. But it’s not enough to believe – spells don’t work if you don’t work with them. You must take the necessary actions in the world for your spell to manifest. Go back to school and get your degree, start that online business, go see a therapist or file for divorce. You can’t expect magic, or a spell, to do for you what you’re not prepared to do for yourself. Your life is your magic. Act in accord.
Visualize a sphere of light in the center of your stomach. Feel its energy, heat, power.
Clap and send the sphere out and all around you, covering you from head to toe, shoulder to shoulder and a few inches beyond. Feel the energy, heat, power surrounding you. Nothing can get through it except air and information.
When you no longer need the sphere of protection, reach your arms out, grasp the sphere with both hands and pull it back in to your stomach.
Would you pray for something bad to happen to someone? Of course not. And for the same reasons – you’re invoking the Divine – you’d never cast a spell to harm someone. The only difference between prayer and a spell is that, when you cast a spell, you go to the well of your own inner divinity in addition to seeking the aid of a divine power greater than yourself.
Some Wiccans say that the reason not to cast spells to harm others (baneful magic) or to hex someone (a misuse of the word hex as harmful magic) is because of the ‘Threefold Law’ – what you send out returns to you three times over. I’ve been challenging this notion for many years. The Threefold Law is not a proper basis for Wiccan ethics. Why not? Because it’s a rule enforced by punishment – I won’t do harm because if I do, I’ll experience worse harm myself. In other words, I’ll be punished.
It’s a remnant of patriarchal thinking – when God isn’t present in the world, you need rules to determine right from wrong and rules need to be enforced by the threat of punishment. Break the Ten Commandments and you go to Hell. But behavior motivated by punishment isn’t ethical: it’s just self-interest in avoiding pain. It’s the wrong approach for a spirituality that experiences all of Creation as divine.
My Wiccan ethic is simple: We seek to live in a sacred manner because we live in, and are part of, a sacred world. It’s the right foundation for right action. And it’s the real reason behind another ethical precept often cited by Wiccans: And you harm none, do what you will. Why should we do no harm? Because we live in a sacred world.
Still, it’s not enough simply to refrain from doing harm. Living in a sacred world motivates us to positive action. It means living with reverence, respect, gratitude and reciprocity toward others and toward Mother Earth. Living in a sacred world means living in harmony and balance; it means learning to live, as all living things do, in ways that make the world more conducive to life. Living in a sacred world means paying careful attention to and being guided by the wisdom and ways of Nature as it embodies divinity.
We still have a lot to figure out about what it means to live in a sacred manner. For example, seeking justice rather than revenge or deciding whether to eat animals, when and if to go to war or break the law in civil disobedience. These are now conversations we can have from the right premise as we rediscover how to live in a sacred and right relationship with Mother Earth and with each other.
Cast circle. Sit in the center.
Ground and raise energy from Mother Earth. Direct Her energy to the part of your body, mind, heart, soul that needs healing. Send some of that healing back to Mother Earth, with gratitude. Take consistent action to heal a wound we’ve inflicted on Mother Earth.
When a spell works, the world feels utterly magical. But what about when a spell doesn’t work? Or it works but with results that aren’t what you’d expected or hoped for? Anyone who’s cast a love spell knows that they can produce very peculiar results – seemingly perfect until they’re not.
Wicca is the Craft of the Wise. There’s always wisdom to be found in whatever the outcome of your spell. When you discern the lesson, real magic is unleashed. Self-knowledge leads to self-acceptance and to change.
No matter what happens on the outside, magic changes you on the inside. You’ll begin to discover that ‘everything in life is sacred, both the bitter and the sweet.’
Whether your spell produces the goal you
were envisioning or not, the real goal at
the heart of all spells is to find the Divine
within every situation, and within yourself.
When you’re able to do that, you’ll realize that the most important thing magic changes is you.
Do something you’re afraid of. While you do it, yell: ‘As I do will, so mote it be.’
You don’t always have to visualize your goal to the last detail. In fact, that can be counterproductive. Over years of spellcasting, I’ve learned to trust the universe, and I urge you to do the same. Craft an open-minded spell that simply asks for what’s best for you. Instead of asking for a Ferrari, which you can’t afford and can’t enjoy because of speed limits, ask for transportation that will be best for you. And be grateful when you get a 10-speed bicycle for your birthday – it is precisely the thing to help you stave off coronary heart disease.
Get a large green candle. On it, carve your name and a large dollar/pound/currency sign. Set the candle on a plate full of bay leaves. Light the candle and let it burn.
Repeat this prosperity spell until you feel your inner energies shift and the blessings of abundance, prosperity and generosity of Mother Nature flow to you:
‘Mother from whom all blessings flow
Help me make my prosperity grow
With work that I love for which I’m well paid
Helping all with all that I have made.’
Make an offering with a donation of time, energy or something useful to someone who has less than you. Act in accord. Make a gratitude list – one day a week, add something to it for which you’re grateful.
Spells are personal, creative, religious ritual, a rite of communion and co-creation with a divine, living universe, the art of honoring ourselves and the world as sacred. They are drawn from the well of your inner divinity to give shape and form to your life, and they work best when they are divinely inspired and created with the numinous energy that shapes Creation.
Light a white candle. Ask for stillness and clarity of mind. Breathe. Thank the trees. Thank Mother Earth.
Spells can be richly elaborate and they can be as simple as opening your heart and wishing on the first star you see tonight. The most important secret of all is that all real spells are, in one way or another, love spells.
Fill your bathtub with warm water, rose oil and red rose petals. Get in and soak. Cry if you need to.
Feel the gentle power of the water that surrounds and embraces you. Feel your heart open and fill with love, like a cup that runs over with abundance. Feel how good it feels for your heart to be filled and to offer it to someone worthy of receiving your love. Feel how good it is to receive love. Float in the feelings of love, joy and gratitude. Love yourself.
When you’re done, wrap yourself in a warm robe. Take a few drops of the bath water (without soap) and add it to a large pitcher of clean water. Clean the leaves of your plants and water them as you tell them how much you love them. Write a love letter to yourself, or to those who already love you, and keep it in your magical journal.