Spell Crafting and Casting 101

How does a Traditional, Celtic, White Witch in Coven 1658 craft a spell?  Its actually very simple.  Traditional Witches usually have a much easier means to craft and cast spells than those practicing Wicca, which is filled with more ceremony, because it is a religion. 

We skip the 'religious' aspect, and reserve our religious feelings for times we attend church, synagogue, or other religious places we might attend.  We remember that Christian faith is the religion that ultimately condemned us, but also ultimately saved us from the Witch trials in the long run...many persons practicing Traditional Witchcraft during the burning times, like our early High Priestesses, and Hierophant, Bessie Dunlop, Violat Guillieland and John Guillieland, were Celtic Christians, or eventually joined with the Presbyterian church.  Scholars and many writers have discovered that many historical witches converted to the Presbyterian Faith as a means to escape the Witch Trials.  Its very possible that this is what Violat did, since the family remained Presbyterian until this very day (some converted to Baptist, by the way, but in the 1600's Batpists were considered heretics and were given a very hard time, and some were accused of Witchcraft as well!)

Crafting a spell is the research involved in planning it.  We take into consideration the following and may or may not use 'coordinates' in our spell work.  'Coordinates' are lists of items and what they 'do' with energy.  Many Wiccans use coordinates in spell work because they feel it is very important to match the energy in one natural object with the energy in another natural object.  While Traditional Witches find these lists helpful, we focus more on what has meaning for us personally.  For example, a yellow rose usually means friendship.  But it may symbolize something completely different for 'us' - it may be the symbol of a family member or romance partner, or it may symbolize something related to a job or other situation.  Therefore, instead of reading a list and determining that we should only use a yellow rose for a spell related to friendship relationships, we may use its energy to attract the energies that bring together what is personal for 'us'.  This means that the only real 'rule' is:  what symbols have to do with the situation at hand for 'you'?  Some people may not have much creativity in this matter, and therefore, COVEN 1658 does not discourage the use of pre-written lists of 'coordinates'.  All we encourage our adherents to do is think of what is important to your spell before you use a pre-written list of coordinates, that's all. 

Second, we use ELEMENTAL energy in spell work.  This means we use the five elements - EARTH, AIR, FIRE, WATER, AND AETHER.  Aether?  What's that?!?!?!  And what happened to 'SPIRIT'? 

Everything on our earth and in our universe was once categorized by Alchemists in the ancient world into 5 categories - earth, air, fire, water and aether.  Elements related to earth are soil, minerals like salt or iron, ashes, and this sort of thing.  The element of Air includes anything that can form a vapor, thus things like smoke, incense, fragrance from perfume or flowers is considered air.  Fire is an element related to anything when it burns, which includes just about any other element, but usually includes things that are characteristically meant to burn, such as wood, candles, incense, charcoal, and so on.  Water is any liquid - water, milk, wine, juice, and anything else liquid.  Aether is a word that literally means 'the greater cosmos' and thus refers to anything lying beyond our earth, including the moon, stars, sun, and the zodiac.  As you can see, 'spirit' is not included as an 'element'.  It is not included in COVEN 1658's understanding of the Five Elements.  So what 'is' spirit then?

Spirit is your own intention - the part of you that can not be seen, your mind set, your attitude, your wishes...you intention.  Spirit is the energy that you yourself put into the spell, and combine it with the other five elements.  It is 'your' spirit, that combines with the energy you 'unlock' from the five elements, and send out to return with answers to your requests. 

By 'Spirit' we do not mean the 'Divine' or the Ancestors.  We do not forbid or encourage our adherents to include the Divine in their spells, because we do not teach theology.  Even so we would like to point out that one can invite the Divine, but can never force the Divine to do one's bidding.  Instead the Divine permits your intentions to be answered.  Likewise we teach our adherents that extending an invitation to the Ancestors is acceptable, and their wisdom is to be honored.  The things their life-stories can teach us is always considered invaluable.  We must point out again that when we do use the term 'Divine' we only mean the benevolent Divine, and that any Ancestors that may come only bring peace and healing, never disruption, fear or harm.

The 'science' of crafting a spell is our own research in selecting what elements to use in a spell, and then finding objects in that element's category to use in our spell.  Selecting objects, whether natural or man-made lie inside the personal experience factor, because objects retain personal energy from their user, as well as attract energy related to that personal situation.  When one cannot think of an object to use that relates to the spell on a personal level, 'then' one can consult a 'coordinate's' list for ideas.

The 'art' of spell crafting is determining 'how' to set up the spell and then carrying out the spell's set up.  Begin by writing a list of words down related to the intention - what is it you want to achieve?  What is important?  write a list of words that describe what it is you wish to accomplish - a new job?  finding romance?  having more organization in your life?  having a better attitude?  gaining harmony in the home?  becoming a better cook?  focusing on your health?  Whatever it is you wish to accomplish, begin with a list.

Next, brainstorm ways you can and should achieve this goal 'without' using a spell.  Magick often does not work until all other options have been exhausted.  Miracles don't happen when there are perfectly good natural means to gain the result.  If you wish for more money, can you honestly say that you deserve it?  Are you a spend-thrift, and waste money at every turn?  Maybe the universe would rather give extra money to someone who is good with money but hard on their luck, rather than let someone who is a spend-thrift waste the money on frivolous things.  Do you need to work on your health?  Perhaps you should make a decision to eat better, cut out salt, smoking or alcohol, and take up some gentle exercise like yoga or walking (with the advisement of your personal physician, of course!).  Do you want more organization or harmony at home? (the two are often related...).  Maybe you could make a choice to spend 15 minutes every day de-cluttering and taking a bag of used goods to the thrift store, which would make your life more organized and, with a less cluttered environment, bring harmony into your home, by helping family members have better environmental energy around them. 

Once you have determined that you have done all you can to better your concern, write an incantation - a rhyming phrase which states, very briefly, what it is you wish to accomplish.  If you can work in the objects you plan to use in the spell, and list them in the incantation somehow, even better.  Get the incantation written first and work on it until it reflects your wish or desire as perfectly as you are able.  This is a very important step.  You may say the incantation many times in your effort to accomplish the spell's work.  Make sure you are 'very' specific.  If you are not specific, you may actually get what you asked for, and it may be very different from what you expected.  Sometimes if a spell is not specific enough, you will not get what you asked for, and instead of giving up on it, you will need to go back and re-write the spell to be more specific, by asking what it was that you did not get, and then including that information in the spell.

Once the incantation is written, set the spell up.  Set up objects that are a) symbols of what your concern is and how you intend to accomplish gaining and answer or resolution to that concern;  and b) able to radiate energy outward, and which will operate as magnets to the energy which will draw in that which you want to achieve.

For example, if you want to gain extra money, you might need to give a reason why you need the extra money (perhaps you can not pay a bill on time);  you should then include the exact amount of money you need, to the best judgment you can determine the amount, and also include a date by which you need that amount of money.  You may also need to state that you need cash, otherwise you might get that dollar value in a jewelry item, groceries, coupons, or some other means that will be harder for you to exchange into the kind of value you can actually use.

After you have set up the spell, create a salt circle around the spell.  You can use normal table salt if you like.  Before you create the salt circle (sometimes called a 'Fairy Ring') around the spell, you might with to bless the salt by waiving your right hand over it and saying something like, "I bless this salt that it protects my spell from any energy that might interfere with the energies I am releasing to do a particular task.  So Mote It Be."

Before you perform your spell, place yourself under protection as well.  Say, "I place myself under the protection of....(and then fill in the blank with one of the following options as you are comfortable, such as:  'the Highest Divine';  'Truth, Wisdom & Love';  'Positive Energy Only'.  Energy floats around and is attracted or repelled by other energies.  When you work a spell, it attracts energy, which can not get into the casting area because of the protection of the Salt Circle, so, to protect yourself, you need to declare that you, also, are protected and do not want wandering energy to come your way.  If you like you may also stand inside a salt circle, or wear an amulet made of fabric that contains blessed salt (which is the least messy option).  You can also boil water together with salt (1 gallon of water to 1 teaspoon of salt), and include a written blessing, phrase or scripture that wards off evil or the interference of stray energy).  Store this water in a safe place, and use it to sprinkle around yourself when you do a spell;  The water should already be prepared such that its intention is to protect you from stray energy and other evils.

Perform the spell by lighting candles, holding special amulets over such things as pictures, incense, floral, moving things from one place to another, and so forth, while saying the incantation.  You may wish to devise a certain amount of time to say the incantation in, such as 3 minutes, or 3 times, or, in true Celtic fashion, '3 x 3' (nine times, or nine minutes). 

At the end of the spell, you may wish to:  tear up the spell and toss it into the wind, release it into water, burn it in a fire place, or bury it with something related to the spell, such as seeds, or frame the incantation so its energy continues to radiate for a length of time.  You may wish to keep the spell set up and repeat it on several nights before disposing of the incantation; or you may wish to take the spell down immediately and carry the incantation with you until the next full moon, your birthday, or some other special day. 

You absolutely 'must' forget about the spell for a time.  Your thought forms can interfere with the spell's energy after it is sent out and 'mess it up'.  Forget it.  You have done all you can, and now you must let nature take its course and accept what comes.  Sometimes you can repeat the spell and try again, and other times you must accept what you get, and move on.  Sometimes you will get results you did not expect, which may be beneath your expectations, different from your expectations, or far above your expectations.  Working spells is not a specific science, but more like putting a recipe together differently every time.  There is no such thing as a 'one spell fits all' circumstance.  Yes, there are 'spell kits' that approach universal problems and these are fine, but their results may vary from person to person.

This is the basics of spell crafting and casting.  As you read up on how other people perform spells, remember, that many people are out to sell you lots of stuff that costs lots of money.  All you really need are things personally related to the spell and the right intention.  You need time to design your spell and set it up, and you need patience to wait until results come in. 

Working with Energy is fun, but it is serious.  Do not take it lightly.  Only work spells in emergencies, when you really, truly can not resolve the problem any other way.  And never work a spell for personal greed, it will not work out properly.  If you have an issue of personal greed, instead of working a spell, approach the Benevolent Divine and 'talk about it' with the Higher Powers.  Ask for insight, and be honest.  You never know if 'somebody upstairs' will decide that you need a bit of a boost and give you what you ask for even if you don't deserve it!  At other times you will receive a lesson of insight, and gain a better perspective.

It is also worth mentioning that spells should never be performed to harm anyone, get revenge, or the like.  Spells are for healing and helping, not for bringing harm.  If good, positive energy is sent out, it will no doubt return, multiplied.

This concludes Spell Crafting and Casting 101.