Tag: Magic

The Prime Ritual Tool In Dragon Magic – The Sword

The Prime Ritual Tool In Dragon Magic – The Sword

 

The prime ritual tool for dragon magic is a sword. It does not have to be elaborate, expensive sword. Choose one that is not too long or heavy because you will often hold it out before you for long periods of time. For a woman, a sword 18 to 20 inches in length is usually the right size. Some prefer Scottish claymores and other large reproductions, but have enough sense to know that your shoulders would be aching miserably after a few minutes of holding it out in front of you. Besides, long swords are notoriously clumsy and difficult to maneuver with a cast circle. It is quite easy, when totally involved in magic, to sweep everything off the altar with a swinging sword. Men should also chose a lighter, shorter sword for the same reasons. Swords do not need a sharpened edge.

 

The magician could use a painted wooden sword as a substitute for a metal one, although you might find it difficult to adjust your thoughts to the use of such a ritual tool. However a dragon is not impressed by the weight or elaborateness of a sword, just the fact that you have one. The sword is of the element of Fire.

Ritual Tools

Ritual Tools

Every sincere magician is always searching for ways to amplify their magickal
power so that their manifestations will be more accurate and consistent. An
excellent method for increasing the flow of energy in your cast circle is to use
the elemental type power of Dragons. There are certain ritual tools that you
will find useful for practicing Dragon Magick and if you are already practicing
Magick then you will have some of them already. If you are just beginning to
work in magick then acquire your tools slowly and with care. It is important to
remember that your tools do not have to be elaborate or expensive to work nor do
they have to be expensive. If your budget does
not allow you to purchase anything at the moment don’t put off beginning your
practice of Dragon Magick.

Altar

Any table chest or microwave cart will do as long as it is comfortable to sit or
stand during ritual

 

Candles
If can’t use candles substitute an electric candle or small light

 

Incense Burner
Can use incense sticks or cones choosing scents to match ritual. If no incense
is available, use pleasant smelling aftershave or cologne

 

Dagger
Can be a paring knife, letter opener as long as tip is sharp and double edged.
Element of Fire.

Sword
Doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. Choose one that is not too long or
heavy. Element of Fire

 

Wand
Can be easily made out of a piece of dowel, no longer than length of forearm
plus your fingers. Glue or attach a crystal or small crystal ball to directing
end. In Dragon Magick wand is used to consecrate wine, water, and salt. Element
of Air

 

Staff
Can be piece of dowel or natural wood about shoulder-high. Attach crystal at top
end if you would like. If using smooth dowel you can purchase four lengths of
cording the length of staff. Cording should be in colors of the elements (red,
yellow, blue, and dark green or black ), tack or glue length of cording down
each side of staff to correspond with elemental directions, attach tassels of
the same colors at the top end of each piece of cording. You can further
decorate staff with small bells or whatever seems appropriate to you. The staff
serves as a connecting link between Magician and astral plane and becomes the
Dragon bridge, it is symbol of magickal authority, your right to call upon and
work with dragons. Also symbolic of center of circle or Element of Spirit.

 

Chalices
One for water and one for wine. One for water can be of any material, one for
wine advisable that it be lined with a good coating of silver if it is pewter,
brass, bronze, or copper .Wine and other acidic beverages create dangerous
reactions with certain metals. If you cannot drink wine then you can substitute
apple cider, grape juice, fruit juice, or even soda. Water chalice is Element of
Water. Wine chalice is Element of Earth, sometimes Fire when used for “blood”.

 

Salt Container
Small jar with lid is best because you will be keeping your ritual salt separate
from kitchen salt after consecration. Element of Earth.

 

Dragon Bowl
Whenever you are on a outing and feel within the area a power that draws you,
take an extremely small amount of dirt or sand back for your Dragon Bowl. This
Dragon Bowl and its contents will be used to empower objects in magickal ritual.
The Bowl and its contents naturally are Element of Earth

 

Gem Bowl
Clear glass bowl for stones and gems that you collect or buy. Expensive,
polished gems are not necessarily any better than those found in the rough in
Nature or the tumbled ones found in rock shops. This Gem Bowl does not need a
lid because stones radiate power at all times without any loss. Element of Earth

 

Water Bottles
If you plan to work with water or sea dragons, you need to purchase a number of
small bottles with lids that can be securely fastened. Again you will be
collecting small amounts of water from various sites where you feel the
radiation of dragon power, or strong elemental energies. Even rainwater as
power. Carefully label each bottle so you can remember where you got it. Element
of Water

 

Pentacle Disk
Necessary for consecrations and other ritual work, usually a metal or wooden
disk with a pentagram painted or etched on it. However, there is no reason that
the Pentacle cannot be made out of Cardboard. It is of the elements of both
Spirit and Earth and helps to control and balance all other of the Elements.
When used as an element of Earth, it grounds Spirit in the Ritual.

 

Dragon Pentacle
Used as either a picture or disk, presented during specific rituals as a means
of establishing your authority to call the Dragons and is of the Element of
Spirit

 

Mirror
Any shape, a plain wooden or plastic frame around a mirror makes it easier to
write on your magickal statement. Around all edges in DragonScript should be
written: “By the power of the eye of the Dragon, I capture and harmonize all
airborne thoughts. “Element of Earth and Spirit

About Basic Dragon Rituals

About Basic Dragon Rituals

 

 

Before beginning rituals, it is suggested that you set aside time for work with changing, music and dance, as well as meditation. Consider these activities the training exercises an athlete goes through before actually participating in the main event.

While practicing rituals, the magician can begin to collect the ritual tools she/he needs to begin performing dragon magic. Do not fall into the trap of equating expensive with better. Once you have established communication with the dragons, they will lead you to many of the tools; dragons seem to be very conscious of a good buys.

Although ritual magic is a serious practice, the magician must also make room for fun. Music and free-form dance can be very important in keeping dragons interested. These activities are also of importance to the magician, since most humans live lives full of stress and over-seriousness. Know yourself, know your real intentions for doing ritual, and enjoy your time with the dragons. Take time to be a child again, non-judgmental, full of wonder and delight at the antics of dragons. Learn from them when to be serious about life and when to lose yourself in play and pure enjoyment. My dragon has taken part in rituals with total concentration and involvement, only to spook one of the cats when we are finished.

Enjoy yourself with your dragons. Ask them for help in whatever you are striving to accomplish. Provide them with friendship and the chance to frolic in the energy vibrations you create. Learn from them. But never, never, treat them as commanded slaves or take their friendship lightly. Dragon magic is serious business. Be an honest friend, and you will receive honest friendship in return. Dragons are not like humans. They feel no compunction to continue a friendship or be helpful or even nice if you mistreat them.

It is helpful to the magician with dragons as co-magicians to keep a notebook detailing inner experiences while working this type of magic. Some dragons will appear only during certain phases of the Moon, while others arrive during specific weather patterns such as storms, long hot spells, etc. Other dragons hung around for days, especially if the magician is going through a period of turmoil in her/his life. Some dragons make brief appearances during a ritual and are not seen again for quite some time.

Each dragon has a definite feel to her/his personality just as humans do. The magician must learn to recognize them individually even if she/he never learns their names. Dragon names are usually never what they seem, since dragons are extremely cautious about giving their true names to humans. I never argue or press them on this point since I feel they have a right to their privacy if they desire it.

It is a quite an ordinary occurrence for a magician to work the dragon rituals several times before becoming aware that she/he has attracted dragons-helpers. Do not become discouraged if you are not immediately aware of their presence. Be patient. Dragons have good reason to be wary of humans. Prove your trustworthiness and friendship to them. A friendship developed slowly and on a firm found lasts the longest.

Ritual Tools and Dragon Magick

Ritual Tools and Dragon Magick

 

Every sincere, dedicated magician is always searching for new ways to amplify her/his magical powers so that her/his manifestations will be more accurate and consistent. Using the elemental-type power of dragons to help in your rituals is an excellent method of increasing the flow of energy within the cast circle.

There are certain ritual tools that you will find helpful for dragon magic. If you are already practicing magic, you will have some of them. If you are just beginning to work in magic, acquire your tools slowly and with care. Tools do not have to be elaborate or expensive to work magic. For example, I have never found that a little silver wand (these are really expensive!) could do more than a piece of dowel lovingly decorated by the magician. And the tools do not have to be acquired at once or before you can start your magical workings.

If you budget does not allow any purchases at the moment, do not put off beginning your practice of dragon magic. Start off with the kitchen table or the nightstand in the bedroom as an altar. One white candle in a fireproof holder is better than none; however, if you cannot have a candle, substitute an electric candle or small light. A paring knife will work as a ritual dagger for carving script onto the candle. A pleasant cologne or aftershave can become an emergency incense. A glass can be chalice. Use your imagination and inventiveness until you can manifest enough prosperity to purchase better tools. Ritual manifestations have been successful with some of the most outlandish equipment in a pinch. But it does work better and more efficiently when you have special ritual tools. I think this has to do with budding magician’s subconscious mind and the development of the magical personality.

Let’s Get Wild & Crazy, lol!

Funny & Naughty Comments & Graphics
Well, OK, not totally wild and crazy! I am going to take a detour from my regular postings that I do during the week. I am going to post some Dragon Magick, which I noticed quite a few of you liked. Then I am going to put on some more Dark Arts’ Spell, which I noticed hundreds of you liked them, lol! You little devils, you! You know if you have any requests for types of spells that you would like for me to post, please let me know. I will be more than happy to post any kind of spell or material you are interested in. Just ask! Now on with the show……… 
~Magickal Graphics~

Relationships: When Only One of You is Pagan

Relationships: When Only One of You is Pagan

Author: Ryan Hatcher

I’ve been in my current relationship for about a year and a quarter and like any relationship, we have our ups and downs. One thing that tends to pop up regularly, whether in jest or debate and sometimes a jibe, is the subject of my being a Pagan, because my partner isn’t and this will sometimes cause conflict.

And so, I thought it would be interesting to write about what it’s like to be in a relationship with a Pagan when you aren’t one. And the best way I could think of doing that would be to do a sort of interview with my other half. And that’s exactly what I did! I’ve also included my side of the response so it gives both perspectives (a Pagan with a non-Pagan partner and vice versa) .

[Begin interview]

How would you define your personal spiritual or religious standpoint?

Chris: I don’t really have a religion and I wouldn’t really class myself as being particularly spiritual, I feel there’s no physical presence [of divinity] but we enlighten ourselves through our interaction with nature and natural forces. I see nature and natural forces as the spiritual essence of the planet.

Ryan: If I was to label myself, I would say I was a Witch of my own tradition, though mostly I use the term Pagan first. I see nature and the forces of nature personified through my Gods.

Have you ever had any experience with paganism prior to meeting your partner? (If so, what did you make of it?)

Chris: [lengthy pause]…Charmed, Buffy, The Craft…media images! I bought a couple of books from a local ‘witchy shop’ when I was younger to see if it took me to a place where I wanted to be. Experimenting with the spells wasn’t what I expected. I expected there would be more obvious results.

Has your perspective or any preconceptions of paganism been changed or confirmed? How do you perceive paganism now?

Chris: I see paganism now as any other form of religion/worship, etc. with its own set of beliefs, which I respect even if though I’m not pagan.

What do you find are the difficulties of being in a partnership when one of you is Pagan?

Chris: Finding space for the paraphernalia mostly! Such as trying to find areas for some things to be on display while not imposing on the rest of the house! I’m not too keen on ritual clothing; robes and stuff makes it seem much more like dressing up, like a play or pretending. It makes it seem more ‘out there’ to me.

I find it difficult trying to understand his need and want to practice Paganism. It makes me think that he must feel there’s something lacking in his life or in himself… as if he’s not enough of a person as he is, like he needs some extra support. Does he lack a self-belief to be able to go out there and do things himself? Maybe he needs to work behind closed doors using spells to get a result instead of going out there and grabbing the bull by the horns?

Ryan: It’s kind of hard trying to get him to understand the point behind my beliefs and practices. The religious and spiritual side of paganism is easier to understand, as it’s not that dissimilar to Chris’ own point of view, though perhaps I take it to another level. The hard part is trying to explain magic and spell work. It ranges from trying to quantify the ‘how’ of magic to justifying reasons why. I think it gets taken out of perspective sometimes and he thinks I work a spell for everything I want in life, when it’s really only for things I can’t physically influence in the world.

Sometimes I think he feels embarrassed as well. I like to have some things on display, for a mixture of aesthetic value and providing a sense of spiritual connection to our home. It may be that he is worried whether people will think we’re/I’m odd and not want to get involved any more, or more likely it’s because I’ve gathered so much stuff over the last 10 years he’s worried about clutter!

I think the hardest thing, though, is that I’ve got someone to share my life with, yet I can’t share all of it as he’s not interested, or embarrassed. It just means ritual has to still be done alone, but when he’s out of the house, just in case he thinks I’m being weird!

Are there any advantages or things you enjoy about only one of you being Pagan?

Chris: I don’t think there are any advantages or anything I enjoy that is different to having a non-pagan partner.

Ryan: Not really. I guess there are no arguments on the right way to do ritual and things like that, but apart from that, there are the same basic dynamics as in any other relationship.

Have you ever been involved in ritual together and what did you make of it?

Chris: Yes. I don’t know what to make of it. It wasn’t like I expected. I expected to be able to feel presences and energies, which, unfortunately I did not. I understand the concepts of ritual and offerings, but it’s not for me. I don’t feel it achieves much for me.

Ryan: It did feel a bit awkward as, admittedly, I spent a lot of the time wondering what he thought of it and whether he was put off me! I was also kind of embarrassed with saying ritual words and what he’d think of the idea of chanting. Turns out chanting wasn’t taken to all that well, so we didn’t bother so much. Sad though it is, I can safely say I’ve had better solo rituals.

Would you ever consider reading or studying some Pagan introductory books to learn and understand your partner’s spirituality and religion better?

Chris: Not really if I’m honest, unless I had a specific interest in it to begin with and then I’d want to read up on the subject anyway.

Ryan: I’d like him to, as I feel it would give him a better perspective rather than it just coming from me. Authors are generally better at explaining things clearly and in a way for people with no Pagan background to be able to understand.

[End interview]

I just hope this essay provides a different perspective on Pagan life, and maybe strikes a chord with people in a similar situation. It may seem like a public therapy session, but sometimes it’s nice to share experiences that could be just as valid to someone else. I hope you stuck with it and it gave you a little bit of food for thought.

Ritual Tools Dedication Rite

Ritual Tools Dedication Rite

 
This is fairly simple ritual for the consecration and dedication of your ritual tools. Use it as a basic guideline for the creation of a rite that is uniquely suited to you and your path. Trust your intuition and feel free to adapt this to meet your needs. You will need: the altar of your choosing, set with symbols of your spirit allies and deities, smudge or incense; pure water that has been left in sunlight and moonlight for twenty-four hours:; sea salt; essential oil of myrrh, frankincense, lemongrass or rosemary.
 
1. Smudge or cense your altar, yourself, your ritual space, and your new tool. Visualize any unwanted energies breaking up and releasing from your tool. Say, “By fire and air do I cleanse and consecrate this space.”
 
2. Add a pinch of salt to the water, then sprinkle your altar, yourself, your ritual space and your new tool. Say, “By water and earth do I cleanse and consecrate this space.”
 
3. Call upon your spirit guides, patron deities and any other beings you wish to have present. Invite them to share in this ritual and ask for their guidance and protection. State the purpose of this rite: that you have come before these honored spirits to present your new tool for their blessings. Tell them that you dedicate this tool to the highest good and ask that only the most beneficial energies might flow through the tool and through you when you use it.
 
4. Holding the tool in both hands, feel your energy filling it and forming a connection between you, so you might use it to its greatest benefits.
 
5. Replace the tool on the altar and pick up the essential oil. Offer the oil to those invoked and ask again for their blessings. Anoint yourself with the oil, inviting into yourself the qualities you want to bring to your path. Then anoint the tool, blessing it with the intent for a few moments to allow any spirit messages to come through.
 
6. Thank and release all spirits you invited to join in this ritual.
 
7. Close sacred space and keep your tool in a safe and special place.
 
It has been said that ritual tools and other magickal equipment must be crafted by the user to be truly effective. It is true that making your own working tools imbues them with a rare focus and attune them to your energy like nothing else. The process of crafting your own tools involves you, from the start to finish, in the journey from idea all the way through manifestation. It’s an experience that is not to be missed. However, sometimes our tools are already out there somewhere, and will find the way to us when we are ready to receive them. Some people find tools that connect instantly and directly to their hearts and souls at garage sales or metaphysical stores. Others receive the ideal tool from their spirit allies in a vision and the enlist the aid of magickal craftspeople. The tools they now work with have been accepted by their gods and are a physical manifestation of the tools they were given in these powerful vision.
 
Whether you find your magickal object on the seashore or in a yard sale, power objects and ritual tools can be significant partners and potent conduits for your spiritual development. These unique items bring great mystery and allure to ritual magick and meditation, thereby increasing the energy of those very sacred times. As gifts from the spirits we are blessed to received such treasures, whether they come to us in simple of elaborate forms.

You finally know you are a witch when…….

Witchy Comments
You finally know you are a witch when:

1. Your BOS has spots on the pages from spilled brews.

 

2. When cleaning house you have to specify. “Where is the broom? No, not THE broom, where is the one to clean the floor with?”

 

3. Candle wax has dripped on your keyboard.

 

4. Neighbourhood cats commune in your front yard.

 

5. There are more jars of strange smelling plants in your cupboards than there are cereal boxes.

 

6. Friends know they can always give you candles and incense as a gift.

 

7. When watching old re-runs of Bewitched, you find you side with Samantha’ s mother Endora.

 

8. You’ve actually tried to twitch your nose to add emphasis to your spellwork.

 

9. When travelling, stranger and stranger strangers tell you their problems.

 

10. You swear in the plural.

 

11. You find yourself making corn dollies in the checkout line at the grocery store.

 

12. Whenever someone sneezes you say “Goddess Bless.”

 

13. You ask for Halloween off, because it’s a religious holiday.

 

14. You start answering the phone with “Merry Meet”.

 

 
~Magickal Graphics~

3 NIGHTS OF HELL CANDLE SPELL

3 NIGHTS OF HELL CANDLE SPELL


This spell will inflict serious pain and sores on thine enemy for a period of 3 strange days.
After which the spell is lifted he is made well again.
Take a black candle and place a picture of thine enemy in front of you and tilt
the candle so the wax drips upon the would be victim in the picture.
Visualize the wax burning sores into the body of thine enemy.
While doing so, recite the following 3 times
“As I do this candle spell
Bring thine enemy 3 nights of hell
Candle black, black as night
Bring him pains of flesh tonight!
lesions on his skin will grow
Afflict him with a painful blow
Sores and pain afflict him now
for 3 nights he’ll wonder how
Dukes of darkness, Kings of hell
Smite thine enemy, bring him hell
when 3 nights of pain have past
Make him well, well at last”.
After sitting and thinking about the sores that will inflict your enemy and the
pain he will suffer you may then extinguish the candle. When 3 nights have
past tear up the photo and say the following.
“When 3 nights of pain endured,
I lift this curse rest assured
Darkness leave him, go away,
the curse is lifted now, today!”

The Fourth Rule of White Magick: Must be cosmic balance

The Fourth Rule of White Magick:
There must be cosmic balance

 
Though it is important, this rule is sometimes forgotten.
 
As mentioned earlier, even the fluttering of a butterfly wing affects the energies of the universe. So when you take from the cosmos at a time of need, you must redress the balance by a practical gift at another time when you are able to give. This need not be financial giving but should involve positive effort. There isn’t a time limit and if you are surviving on two hours’ sleep with a teething baby, the cosmos won’t charge interest on unpaid dues.
 
Sometimes you can pay back into the same area from which you took the energies. For example, if you used the power of the sea or a river in your spell to launch a venture, you could in the everyday world join a campaign for clean water in the Third World, help a harassed new mother with her washing and ironing or plan to feed the local ducks in winter when no one else bothers.
 
Occasionally perform an open-ended ritual to send out good vibes or healing to wherever it is most needed or to say thank you for your life, even if it is not perfect right now (it may suddenly and dramatically improve after the ritual).
 
Equally when you blow out your altar candles try to send the light to people who are being cantankerous or spiteful in the hope that it will brighten their aura. It may take a whole lot of butterflies to shift negativity but it is possible (and then you have some credit in the cosmic pot).

The Third Rule Of White Magick: Ask for enough for your needs & a little more

The Third Rule of White Magick:

You can ask for enough for your needs and a little more
 
Magick can be used for any area of your life where you need power, money, healing or protection. There is nothing wrong in asking for the resolution of an urgent problem. After all, you can’t be drawing down lunar energies or healing rainforests successfully if you are worried sick about the bald tire on your car and you’ve got to drive your grandma to the hospital for her annual check-up the next day.
 
Witchcraft is and always has been about real people and their daily needs. As the Christian Lord’s Prayer says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The religion of witchcraft is no less caring.
 
Our ancestors’ seasonal and domestic rituals were based on the need for enough food, shelter, and clothing. These were days when the harvest or the hunt was crucial to survival. The necessity of enough rain and sunshine for the growth of the seeds and animals formed the focus of seasonal rites. In societies that still depend on hunting, fishing or the harvest, these seasonal rituals have maintained their urgency and central position in the religious life of the community.
 
As long as your needs are realistic, you can usually obtain the resources you asked for, plus maybe an unexpected free upgrade, by doing even a simple spell. Be sure that your heart is in it and that you suspend logic–at least while casting the spell.
 
You can ask for love, health, healing, career success, fertility, concentration and an improved memory to pass an examination or take a test. As long as you do put in the necessary hours of studying or earthly effort to bring your wishes to fruition, magick can give you the extra boost and the confidence to succeed.

The Second Rule of White Magick: What is sent out comes back threefold

The Second Rule of Magick:

What You Send Out Comes Back Threefold
 
This is a great incentive to do magick to help others and for the environment.

If you use magick to send healing, love or abundance to other people, the same qualities will come into your own life unexpectedly in ways you need them, with three times the intensity.
 
Equally, if you send out negative thoughts or wishes in a spell to a nasty gossiping neighbor, you may well succeed in making the target of your spells unhappy. But this may make her gossip even more. What is more, similar unhappiness or nastiness will come back into your own life three times as powerfully–even if the person you are sending bad thought to deserves them. Bitterness and anger are natural emotions, best shared with a loving friend or relative or relieved by an hour digging the garden and not amplified in a magickal way to pollute the cosmos.
 
You know yourself that if you wake in a happy mood, you smile and everyone responds positively to you because your energy field is radiating happiness and so attracting it back. Think of the cosmos as a giant aura or energy field and do your share of Mary-Poppins-style magick.

The First Rule of White Magick: Do as you choose/harm no one

The First Rule of Magick:

You are free to do as you choose as long as you harm no one.
 
This rule sounds deceptively simple to keep. However, scientifically it has been shown that a butterfly fluttering its wings subtly alters the energies of the universe. Therefore any decision, act or spell must affect others. We should never use magick to interfere with the free will of others, though there are binding spells that can restrict the effects of a person’s negative behavior.

Of course in order to survive emotionally and sometimes to survive at all, you cannot always avoid hurting others in everyday life or in magick. So magick does involve a lot of careful thought and evaluation and usually relates to what is happening in our everyday lives.
 
Supposing you needed more money each month to pay the bills, You know a senior colleague at work is holding a comfortable, well-paid position under false pretences. She is leaving you to do her work and taking the credit. However justifiable your resentment you should not do a spell to get her fired. If you were subsequently offered her job you would never be happy in it because you got it by negative magick. You could instead do spells to raise your own positive profile at work so you do get offered promotions and also to take earthly steps to limit your colleague’s plagiarism. You could in addition, cast spells so that you would find a better-paid job where you were appreciated. Usually such free-loaders are noticed by higher management and may get moved on naturally.

The Rules of White Magick

The Rules of White Magick 

 
The rules of white magick are very moral. Some witches do practice magick while actively following a religious faith, because there is no need to compromise. You need integrity of the highest order when practicing witchcraft. Christians are afraid they will be damned in hell because they are attracted to magick. The main misconception is that witches worship the devil. In fact the old horned god was a hunting god and witches do not believe in a devil as such.
 
Witches believe we choose to do wrong and so are accountable for any wrong words or actions. We can’t blame a devil for tempting us, only our inner desires. Witchcraft accepts polarity in the expression of both goddess and god energies. It also recognizes that evil is a fact as much as good and can’t be eradicated once and for all. However, we should all work to increase goodness in the world, and to contain and minimize the effects of those who choose to do harm.

The same polarity is described in Oriental philosophy as yang and yin, each of which contains the seed of the other, god and goddess, male and female, light and darkness, action and receptivity, hot and cold, summer and winter, dry and wet. Neither is better than the other but when one reaches its limits or extremes it must give way to the other, just as day follows night and night day. At the Spring Equinox (around 21 March in the northern hemisphere, six months later in the southern) light and darkness are equal. Thereafter light increases till the Summer Solstice around 21 June, after which darkness begins to multiply till the balance is restored on the Autumn Equinox around 22 September in the northern hemisphere. The darkest nights and shortest days last until 21 December, the Midwinter Solstice, after which light slowly increases once more. In the magickal wheel of the year this dynamic struggle represents our own inner change and dynamics.

In magick, therefore, you are accountable for your actions and can’t just say sorry about three Hail Marys and be absolved. We have to try to put it right or carry the bad deed or karma (another Eastern Buddhist and Hindu concept) with us.

White Magick

White Magick

  
Like any spiritual force, magick is neutral, whatever its form. In the past, and even today in some parts of the world, formal religion can be used to justify all kinds of cruelty and intolerance. Magick used for dark purposes is really about power and sometimes people do hide behind the name and practices of witchcraft to abuse the vulnerable, whether physically, sexually or psychologically.
 
Usually these folks aren’t really devil-worshippers as they claim, but have watched some nasty inaccurate horror film about satanism and get themselves into all kinds of psycholgical as well as psychic minefields, not to mention the dreadful harm they do to others — and to the good name of witchcraft.
 
Almost as harmful in terms of misinformation and causing psychological damage, though not intentionally are witch cult films that glorify special effect spells with fire, sulphur and blood sacrifice, ritual sex and medieval demons unleashed to grant their wishes.
 
To real witches all life is sacred even that of the smallest insect. If you’re looking for wild sex, forget witchcraft. You’re more likely to get a list of herbs to learn or the altar silver to polish at your local coven than an invitation to attend a moorland orgy.
 
White or positive magickal practice, the kind recommended in this and other books by responsible witches and organizations such as The Children of Artemis, probably the best on- and off-line resource, is a highly moral and responsible code. Common sense is the key and covens are like gold dust to find. You can be sure if you are offered instant initiation in some lonely place or after a few private lession; you should drink up and leave fast.
 
Natural magick is by its simplicity naturally protective and reassuring. However, in case we do get intoxicated by our own powers, floods, whirlwinds, volcanoes and earth tremors are a sharp reminder that we work with and do not control mother nature.

Banishing Magick

Banishing Magick

  
Banishing magick removes or returns any negativity, psychic attack or physical threats to you, your home or loved ones. It can be the next stage on from binding magick and may sometimes be necessary if a wrongdoer continues to pose a threat even after binding. So, for example, if binding the drug pusher didn’t work and teenagers were still being dragged into the drug pusher’s web, banishing might be the next stage.

As with binding, though you can’t banish a person, you can banish their bad influence from your life or that of a loved one, so you might put a dead branch on top a hill and for each dead leaf say:
 
“May his harmful influence be banished from the lives of those your (or indeed all vulnerable) people.”
 
Leave the branch as the wind strips the leaves away so the influence would hopefully decline.
 
In fact, this is a real case. Being a nasty character, the drug pusher was not affected by the binding, though the particular teenager involved, whose mother was helped, did inexplicably, she said, suddenly stop going to the clubs.
 
A week after the banishing spell the drug pusher was forced to leave the neighborhood as he had fallen foul of a local gang for selling them impure drugs. No one has taken his place at the club.
 
Because banishing magick in the protective context is stronger than binding magick and you are tackling what may be bad vibes head on, it should be used sparingly on both people and situations.

However, it can be used very positively. You can cast banishing spells to get rid of sorrow, sadness, pain and sickness, bad habits or the negative effects of people who make you unhappy.
 
Banishing magick can also help you to end in your own mind the ties of a destructive relationship, especially if you have been betrayed or badly treated but blame yourself or cannot let go. Sometimes we need the impetus of a spell if we are to walk away or get over the old sad scenes that run round and round in our heads and stop us from moving on.

For this kind of banishing, place a beeswax candle on a metal tray. Then hold a natural fabric cord or a long reed grass taut, an end in each hand, over the flame. As you burn the center of the cord till it breaks, say:
 
“I cut the cords that bind me (or another person you are doing the spell for) to (name the destructive person or bad habit, for example smoking or binge eating).”
 
You may need to repeat this spell many times using shorter cords or reeds. Bury the burned cords or reeds when they are not longer required.
 
You can also use banishing magick to protect yourself from harm by returning any ill wishes, spite, malice, gossip, curses or hexes to the sender without adding any bad feelings of your own. Under the threefold law, what ill wishes send out they get bad three times as strongly. Simply say:
 
“I return what is yours. Send it not again.”
 
As you speak, hold your hand palm outwards, finger splayed into the wind.

Binding Magick

Binding Magick 

 
Binding magick is sometimes considered a difficult area for white witches because of the issues of the infringement of freewill. It is an area where careful and honest heart searching is needed to be sure your magick is for the highest cause and with the purest intent.
 
Some binding magick is straightforward. If you were going on a long journey, you could bind a small child to you temporarily so that he or she would not get lost or wander off, as the child is not old enough to take responsibility for him or herself.
 
But what if you know a drug dealer is peddling in a place your teenager insists on visiting in spite of your warnings. Can you morally bind the drug pusher from harming your child without overriding their freewill or that of your teenager? Some witches would argue the drug pusher is potentially threatening a lot of teenagers and not just your own and so could not be left to spread his poison.
 
It is possible with care to carry out positive and protective spells to bind such adverse behavior, so that the drug peddler is not able to approach your child with the intent of doing harm.
 
You could bind your teenager, who after all is still young and vulnerable, from buying substances that will cause harm. You could add an attracting spell for your teenager to find some new friends who spend their time in less dangerous settings and also to strengthen your teenager’s natural moral standards.
 
Binding spells often involve the use of images or figures, such as dolls or ones made from beeswax or clay that you bind up with ribbons or cords (of course you do not harm the image). You would then gently wrap the figure in soft cloth and put it in a safe place until the specified time for the binding spell is through.
 
If there is not a set time, binding spells generally have to be recast monthly with new figures. The old doll should be returned to its element: to the earth if made of an earth substance: clay or wax should be rolled into a ball.
 
Since the drug pusher and teenager need to kept apart you could put the drug pusher figure with blessings into the freezer compartment and wrap your child’s image in a drawer. You could also, if you felt it morally right, create another figure to represent other unspecified teenagers in danger and wrap that separately but safely with your child’s figure well away from the drug pusher doll.

Attracting or Sympathetic Magick

Attracting or Sympathetic Magick

 
 
Attracting magick is sometimes called Sympathetic Magick because a focus is used to represent a person or need and then magickal actions are carried out upon that focus to endow it with the necessary power. The accumulated power will then be transferred in the release of energy at the climax of the spell into the actual person or need represented by the symbol.
 
In natural magick it is more effective to choose or make a symbol of a natural material or something which is living: flowers for love, a small wooden toy house for a home move, a feather for travel, seeds for the growth of a venture or prosperity and nuts for fertility.
 
Alternatively you can make wax symbols or figures by softening pieces of beeswax or a child’s modeling clay, for example a small baby in a cradle if you wish to conceive a child. You are not creating the much-feared wax images in which pins were stuck. In fact, most wax dolls with pins displayed in museums were actually used as an early westernized form of acupuncture or the ends of the pins were tipped with a healing oil (to symbolize healing entering the person). After the spell has run its course, you can roll the wax back into a ball and bury it with the words: “Return to your own element, with thanks.”

Equally every herb and crystal has magickal meanings and so can be a focus for a spell. A green aventurine crystal will when empowered in a spell bring you good luck and money, especially in matters of speculation.
 
Some spells are best repeated over several nights to build up the attracting powers. If you wanted a new love relationship to develop (with the proviso that it is right to be, the cosmic opt-out clause) you might move two beeswax candles, one pink and one green, closer to each of the three nights before the full moon for increasing energies. Finally, you would join the flames together on the fourth night of full moon power.
 
Contagious magick is very similar but involves using something personal that the person has used or walked over. For example, as Eastern European marriage spell involves a woman scooping up the earth in which a lover’s footsteps is imprinted and planting marigolds, a love and marriage flower, in the soil. As the flower grow, so it is said will the love, leading to marriage. Presumably in modern times there could be a role reversed.

Magical Ethics

Magical Ethics

ByPatti Wigington

There’s a saying among the contemporary Pagan community that “black magic is whatever works, white magic is anything else.” This stems in part from a misconception that black equals bad, white equals good, and that there are no gray areas at all. However, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Let’s look at the word blackitself, and figure out why it connotates evil. A big part of that is thanks to pop culture — after all, in popular shows like Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the good guys are the “white light” people. The bad guys are surrounded by darkness. Another part of the whole black = bad concept is because of people who can’t let go of their Christian upbringing, in which those who are righteous are surrounded by the light of God, and those who are damned will dwell in darkness.

The problem with this logic is that darkness in and of itself doesn’t have to be bad at all. After all, how beautiful is a quiet night out in the country, miles away from the lights of a city? Have you ever walked in the woods at midnight, embracing the comfort of the shadows? Darkness is what lies in the soil, below the earth, before a plant grows in the spring. It is the long nights of winter, when we are drawn into our homes to embrace our families and count our good fortune. It is the inside of the womb, warm and nurturing. Even the darkness of the grave, of death itself, may be seen as welcoming.

Once we accept that dark isn’t all that bad, it’s a lot easier to look at the concept of “black magic” vs. “white magic.” Even if we replace the words “black” with “negative” and “white” with “positive”, we’re still in a bit of a pickle, and here’s why: because it is the intent that matters as much as the action. In other words, if someone performs magic that others might see as “negative,” but does it for what they believe is an honest and just reason, then is it really negative magic?

To do magic is to say that you want to bring about change in the Universe — after all, if everything were perfect, there’d be no need for magic at all. Any magic capable of causing change is also magic that can harm, simply by its very nature. Magic isn’t some Super Spooky Power that we have — it’s a tool we can use to precipitate changes. Any tool can be used for helping or harming — if I have a hammer, I can use it to build a house. I can also use it to whack people in the head. It’s not the hammer that’s “negative”, but what I choose to do with it.

Case in point: in the early nineties, a serial rapist was terrorizing the women of a coastal city in the Carolinas. His reported victims, over two years, numbered at least two dozen, including a teenage girl who later committed suicide. A group of witches got together one night, and did a working calling for this man to be stopped by the Universe. A couple of weeks later, the prime suspect — who was later convicted — led police on a high-speed chase and wrecked his car, nearly dying from his injuries. He has lived since then severely handicapped, but he never raped another woman.

Negative magic, or no?

There are people within the Wiccan and Pagan community who feel that any magic that affects other people at all is unethical, and they have the right to not perform any magic on, against, or for others. However, there are an equal amount of people who believe that change brought about by magic is acceptable, just as change brought about by mundane methods is acceptable. Chances are, the two camps will never agree, but what you can do, as an individual, is respect the beliefs of those who may disagree with you, whichever side you may happen to fall on.

Look at magic as a way to improve your life. You can use it to bring love to you, to gain financial abundance, to eliminate problems from your life. You can use it as a method of growth and self-empowerment. It can be used to help you fulfill your dreams, desires and goals. Can you use magic to help other people? Sure — if they ask you to. If they haven’t asked — or if they’ve specifically told you NOT to do anything on their behalf, then don’t.

Ultimately, only you can decide which forms of magic fall into your personal system of ethics. If you feel a particular course of action is wrong, then avoid it. If you feel it is ethically acceptable, and you’re willing to accept the results of your actions, then so be it.

Magical Ethics and Guidelines

Magical Ethics and Guidelines

There’s a lot of spirited discussion about magical ethics within the Wiccan and Pagan communities. What’s okay to do, and what’s not? More importantly, do the rules apply to everyone? Read on to find out the basics of magical ethics, and how you can figure out what’s acceptable within your own magical tradition.

Magic for Personal Gain

There’s an awful lot of speculation about whether or not it’s okay to perform magic for personal gain. Unless your particular tradition forbids it, here’s why you should feel okay about doing magic to benefit yourself.

One of the first cautionary warnings that people new to the magical life seem to stumble upon is the idea that magic shouldn’t be used for personal gain. There doesn’t seem to be any clear-cut precedent for where this mandate came from, and in fact very few Wiccan or Pagan traditions follow it. To do magic is, after, to express your own discontent with the universe and the things in it, and to make changes come about to your satisfaction.

Think of it this way. Let’s say you are particularly skilled at building things. Is there some big Rule of Building that says you’re only allowed to construct things for other people, but never for yourself? What if you have a talent for balancing numbers? Does the Accountant’s Rede permit you only to do someone else’s bookkeeping, but not let you balance your own checkbook? Of course not. That would be ridiculous.

If your tradition says, “Don’t do this,” then don’t do it. Otherwise, what’s holding you back? Your personal code of ethics will help you determine whether or not you can perform an action or not. 

Magic is a skill set just like any other. You can use it alone, or you can use it in tandem with the mundane. Part of developing magical ability is to make your own life better. If you’re sick, you do a healing working on yourself. If you’re financially strapped, you do a working that brings abundance your way. Just like with any other talent, use the skills you have to benefit yourself. If you’d like to use it to help other people as well, that’s awesome, and something to be proud of. In the meantime, unless your tradition specifically forbids you from doing magic for personal gain, don’t ever let anyone tell you that your abilities can’t be used for yourself.