If you have been following along with this introduction series, you could probably tell my style of working tends to be very experienced based. I love to research and seeing how others construct their magic, but in the end I want to find what actually works for me – my way.
I have practiced all different kinds of magic over the decades. Experimenting and blending different aspects to find that sweet spot where the spell is just perfect. My background in science, occult and historical studies, folk practices, and animistic understandings has given me a well rounded knowledge base to draw from. I’ve gotten to the point where I can just see all the different components, how to weave or blend them together, to get the right result. It didn’t happen overnight, and sometimes I still have tweaks and even some fails from time to time – but that is part of the fun!
Fun in Magic
I generally don’t get into the topic of “fun” because I’ll be honest, most people don’t see fun the way I do. I am pretty serious minded in general and I take my craft extremely serious. Researching and going down rabbit holes, is fun. Seeing from alternate perspectives and out-of-the-box thinking, is fun for me. Experimenting with a new piece of magic – getting my theory together, playing with various components, analyzing the results – over and over until I get it just right – this is fun. I thrive on the edges of pretty much everything – which is probably why Spirit Walking and liminal work is my specialty.
My Guides remind me all the time though, that “fun” should also be part of our craft – however that may look. We can be serious about the work and playful at the same time. If you are not loving what you do – if it is not bringing you deep joy – then why do it? I love being a witch. I love knowing that I can create real measurable results with what I craft.
Embrace Failure!
When I first started out, I failed a lot. I would try spells that I would find in books (this was pre- internet, so yes I am old) and they either didn’t work at all or the effect could have been chalked up to coincidence. It was frustrating and created a lot of doubt in the young me. Instead of giving up though, I decided to change tactics.
I had some natural skills and abilities – sensitive to things and my mind is good at seeing the connections others miss. That’s when I decided I could get ideas, inspirations, and even understandings of how things work from others, but in the end, what I created had to be mine.
Your own Associations and Meanings
So I started playing around. Looking at the “whys.” Why did they use this herb – Why did they choose this time for the working – Why this color of candle. I didn’t have the answers from them but it made me start looking at and building my own associations and understanding of all the components.
I am an artist so I look at colors through that lens. Not just the basic symbolization of colors listed all over but the emotions they elicit in people, how they blend together, the plants and animals used to create different paint colors. Then how I personally felt about each color – the thoughts, emotions, and association I personally had to them. My husband is a musician and color has vibration in music. So after we met, the vibration of color was added in.
Through this whole process I developed my own meanings behind each color and what to use them for in my craft. I did this with everything – colors, herbs, animals, and so forth. When guiding others, this is one of the first steps I take them through, because this is what started making my magic work. Not following how others see or feel about the component, but how I do.
Magic is Personal
Our emotions and our perspectives play a large role in if a spell will work or not work for us. If you are doing a spell, each component has a job to do in that spell and it is working with all the other components you are adding in with it. The energies first need to be able to blend together, to harmonize. Secondly, you have to harmonize and feel that job in each component as you blend them.
For example: I do not see white as a substitute color. White is the absence of all color, thus it will absorb all the energies into it. If I am trying to bring something in, white for me would be a good choice. If I am trying to banish something out – white would be a hindrance because of how I view and feel about it. If you are allergic to rosemary when you ingest it, your body already has an aversion to that plant personally – thus I would probably only use it in certain baneful spells, or not at all.
So you might be asking – If spells are personal, how do you teach or share them?
Everyone will have their own answer but here is mine – Generally when I do share a spell, I am also giving instructions about each component (I’ll go more into this when I share my servitor spirit process). I tell people the reason behind each of my steps and ingredients – why I am personally using what I do. This gives other people the opportunity to change and adapt the spell to their own associations and craft style if they want to use it.
What to Share and What to Keep
There are many different thoughts on what magic we share and what we stay silent on. I have heard many say that they do not share their own work because it gives people knowledge of your magic and can work against you.
I suck at not sharing. If I find something that works really well for me, and I think others could benefit from it, I will share it. My Deities and Guides demand sharing of me. I pick and choose what that means, but I understand Their perspective. Even though the work is mine, it is not just for me. I have been blessed in so many ways. To be able to see energies the way I do, actually hear and interact with my Guides and spirits the way I do, even the crazy way my mind works in all this. With that comes responsibilities, not just for myself, but to share with others. To give them ideas to play with, inspirations to dive deeper into for themselves, and showing my processes so others can see different ways to create.
I can understand why others don’t share as much. There is a certain amount of risk and it is personal magic. I do not judge anyone, either route they choose to go. It’s a choice each of us has to make for ourselves. There are also some things I won’t share because it is personal – but I find that a lot less for me.
Building Your Own Craft
People like traditions, they like instruction guides, I think there is something rooted in human nature for this. Our skills, our associations, what we need, what we want – these are all personal things. If we are using magic to better our lives and the lives around us, what spells we really need will be different.
Some people will say “Why reinvent the wheel?” when talking about building your own magical craft. Well, you’re not. You have learned how they view things, how they put things together, and if you are lucky – why it worked for them. You are not starting from scratch. Researching and listening to others helps us in tons of ways, but eventually we have to put all of that into practice to find what really works for us.
You also need to be careful in who/ what you listen to. I was floored to find out that there were spells (and cooking recipes) floating around the internet had never been tested. They just wrote some stuff out and put it out there as a working spell. I rarely put out a spell that I haven’t tested extensively and usually have had others test too. The few that I have are some baneful spells, where the magic behind it is sound, but I have had no personal use for so haven’t tested – but I let people know they are untested.
Testing Spells
Each spell is going to be different in how you test and measure it. You are going to have to figure out what personal parameters you are going to do that by. I have known many who just go by “it worked or didn’t.” My science-y brain can’t do that. If it didn’t work, I want to know why. Was it the whole spell or just a component? Did I not work the energies together right? Was it missing something? Even when they do work I want to play with it to see if I can tweak some things to make it even better.
I keep journals for everything. Not the pretty, $30 a pop journals – I’m a frugal witch who takes tons of notes, so the Dollar Tree and spiral notebooks are my friends. When creating a new spell, I write everything down before hand and afterwards with all the changes I made while doing the spell. For me, I can plan and detail it all out, but in the moment, magic flows how it flows, and I let it because it works. By writing it all down, I am able to reflect back on each step when I evaluate it’s effects or need to make adjustments. I watch for all the results that could have come from the spell and those that could be coincidence or other influences. I weigh it out, and feel out each one. I will repeat the spell and observe again.
I only really do this process for new and unique spell crafts now. After years and years of crafting, you eventually get to a point where you just know. Many spells are also very resonate of each other, and is just altered a touch here and there for specific effects. This is the process I started with though – and continue when dealing with/creating a magical craft I have never worked with before.
Tomorrow!!
Yep, it is probably going to take us a few more days to get through this intro series. We had to get some foundation things out of the way though, so you understood the perspectives I am coming from. I hope you are sticking with me on this though because it’s about to get fun!
I think tomorrow we will dive into how and why I create and maintain my Servitor Spirits, and a new way I have found to blend different candles/ energies together for spells that pack a punch. We might also be able to fit in some others things but we’ll see.
As I said before, if you have a particular kind of magic or topic you want to hear my perspective or practices on – put it down in the comments!
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