When casting a spell there are a lot of different considerations. What type of spell is best suited, what ingredients or elements need to be included, is timing a consideration, what about your own mindset?
This line of questioning is the start of actually crafting the right spell to get the results you really want.
Mode of a Spell
The mode in which we put together a spell – how we cast that energy into the world to do its job – and what we do with it afterwards are all important steps.
If I am doing a long term spell, or something that will stay in place until I decide to dismantle it, I would probably choose something like a jar/ bag spell, or create a living spell. A Living spell is one that generally sits on one of your altars and gets regular attention and feeding, while it continuously does the job it was set for. Things like money bowls and servitors are common Living spells.
If it is something I need to happen very quickly, or to destroy something, I would probably use a spell that I would throw into a fire. Allowing the fire to consume it, releasing the energy within, and allowing the smoke to carry it out into the world.
If it is something that needs to slowly come about and build up – I would be place it in a slowly moving body of water or plant it into the ground. Something to note here, if you are placing something into water, the ground, or leaving it in nature – I highly encourage using materials that are not harmful to the environment and make your container out of air dry clay or a natural material that will break down over time. This is good for the environment but also the spell. As the container breaks down and releases the contents, the energy of your spell is also released and growing.
If I need immediate on the fly spells without any tools at all – I’d use my voice. The power of the voice, with emotion fueling it, can be one of the strongest spells we cast. It has tremendous power due to all the components of energy and vibration involved. I also think it is probably the most underrated type of spell-casting because it is not flashy and aesthetic, thus makes it less “social media friendly.”
Is this a one time spell, a spell done over several day, or a living spell that will require feeding and upkeep. Each one has a purpose and reasoning for its choice. Beyond spoken spells, I rarely do a simple one-off spell. I personally find more power and value behind living spells or those that you build up and grow over 3+ days. I think it really just depends on the person, their style, and what works for them.
Each spell, what you are asking of it, and how long you want it to keep going should all be considered when deciding what mode to use.
Constructing and Ingredients
This is probably the most experimentative part of a spell creation in my opinion. It is really going to depend on how you view and connect to each item on a personal level. Just because someone says basil is great for money workings, you may have an aversion to basil, thus using it to draw something in to you probably won’t work – it is highly likely it will do the opposite. Just because some say red is for love, doesn’t mean everyone will see red in that way – Some people I know hate the color red and makes them think of anger. So for them red would be detrimental in a love spell.
It is important to take all of these personal factors into consideration when planning out our spell. I always suggest to people I work with to create their own correspondence charts. For example, with colors – think about each one individually. What are the emotions that the color elicits, what imagery comes to mind, what smells, what sounds (you can even look up the sound for each color ). Use all your senses including your psychic senses/ intuition.
When thinking about herbs, think about the ones you cook with. What kind of meals do you use them in and what feelings or effects does it give to the meal. What grows in your area naturally that you can forge? What do you normally have on hand? Magical ingredients shouldn’t be an extra expense, but created with what you have, at least for the most part.
Once you have your own personal lists, you have everything you need to construct your own spells. Think about the effect or job you want the spell to do. Then go through your lists to find the right combination of energies you feel inhabit those energies or will bring them forth for you.
As you put the spell together, speak out loud to each ingredient. Let it know the job you want it to do or energy you want it to add to your spell. Once it is all put together, this is where I speak the full spell, including all the actions of the spell. Sometimes something is being destroyed and something new is being born in its place, and both can happen within the same spell.
Choose your wording wisely. Is there any way it can be twisted to mean an opposite effect? Are you being clear as to all the actions you need the spell to do? Is your goal clearly stated? Words have power, and choosing the right words can be a crucial factor if a spell works or not.
Timing
This is really dependent on what tradition or magical philosophy you personally follow. Some people do not consider timing at all and do spell-casting whenever they feel like it, and it works for them. Some may only look at the moon phase and organize their work accordingly. Other will go all in and look at all the planetary energies at play, time of day, and weather/ season.
There really is no right or wrong way, it is about finding what works best for you. It may also depend on the spell itself and how much added power may needed. For example, I find Justice spells when dealing with systems (not people), do better when considering planetary timing and energies, because it gives them a massive boost and connections felt worldly – not just self/local.
Experiment, play around with different ideas and modes to see what works best for you and your style of casting. In the end, the result is the only thing that matters and how we measure the effectiveness of a spell.
Ethics and Reasoning in Spell-casting
Ethics in spell casting can not be given or taught. These are rules and boundaries you have to discover and set for yourself. Everyone’s is going to look a little different and they will change and shift over time as you grow as a person and a practitioner. This section is not going to tell you what you have to do – Instead I’m just going to talk through some points I felt was important to consider when creating my own ethic set, and points I use to evaluate the reasoning behind doing a spell.
So what are Ethics? These are basically the rules we set for ourselves. They guide our actions both mundane and magically. They are part of the foundation of who you are as a person and how you conduct yourself. They are the reason behind the boundaries we set for ourselves and when dealing with others.
Light, Dark, Gray
First we must dispel some myths – the ones that seem to divide what some consider “light workers” and “baneful workers.”
First is this idea that there is a magic that does not affect other people or things.
Every piece of magic you do will effect some other person or energy in some way.
There are degrees of this of course, but the fact remains that every action we do, every word we speak, every spell we cast will have some type of effect on the people and energies around us/it. The sooner we start being honest about this, the quicker we can move onto more important discussions in our community.
The degrees and how the spells we cast will effect others is depending on the spell itself and our intention behind it.
Changes come in the form of Intentional (directed at) and Unintentional (happens as a result of). For example, you cast a spell to help you stand out against other candidates for a job. It seems like a “safe” self-spell and one that wouldn’t hurt others. The problem is that it will, on an intentional level. It could come in the form of manipulating the will of the interviewer – thus influencing another person in order to get what you want. The other side is unintentional – There may be people more qualified or better suited for the job and really need it because they are in dire straights right now. Because you used magic to your advantage to give you a leg up, they may be overlooked compared to you, thus losing out on the opportunity.
Now let us be clear here – we are not talking right or wrong – we are talking about effects. Whether it is right or wrong is depending on your personal ethics.
Perhaps you have been out of work for 6 months, you are about to lose your home if you don’t get a job quickly. You are in a dire situation as well and need the magic to boost your chances. Does interfering for your own survival outweigh the cost of all the unknown possibilities of the other candidates?
In the end I feel we have to be honest about and accept, if we are altering energies, using any kind of magic, there will be, without a doubt, effects to others. Tiny ripples or huge waves that echo outwards due to our work. Those effects can be positive or negative, and you will never be able to work it in a way that will only be positive for all. By accepting this fact – it prepares you for developing your own ethics where spell casting is considered.
It’s Personal
It is not for you or me to say what another needs or desires is wrong. It’s not for us to say what ethics or rules another should follow. I may hold ethics you disagree with and you may hold ones I disagree with – that’s ok. This is our life, our magic, and we are the ones who have to face ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day.
If this life is about experiences, who is to say that the person with the mansion and jet setting all over the world is worse than the witch out in the woods forging?
Who is to say a person’s behavior is due to the true desires of that person vs being caused/ influenced by a system they are forced to live in?
It is a matter of perspective.
What they have chosen as their own ethics to live by.
If they choose to offset damage in one area by contributing in others.
By understanding these things, being honest about them, and accepting our roles in them is the starting point of developing your own ethics for magic.
You have to decided on how far you are willing to encroach on others.
How much free-will are you willing to take from another?
What desires of yours, trumps the desires of another?
What do you need in order to be happy in your own life and what sacrifices you are willing to make in order to produce it?
What are you willing to take, or do, in order for you to survive – and at it’s core, what does that even mean to you?
What is the difference between survival and living a full life for you?
Magic is powerful. It has the ability to twist, transform, destroy, and create. Every spell contains a mixture of these things in some measure. It is in the measure, and target, that our ethics really come into play.
My Personal Considerations
The rest of this article is just some examples of my own considerations and ethics.
I will start with people since it is usually at the core or receiving end of spells:
- I accept that no matter what I do, it will effect others. Positively and Negatively. I know that I can not always predict those outcomes, and may never even see them for myself. All I can do is make the best decision at the time, with the information I have.
- Bad people are not born, they are made. They either learn these behaviors from others, or as a result of their environment and interactions with others. There are two sides to this one. Where possible I always try to see from their point of view and what may have led to the choices they are making. Just because I think one way, or see a situation one way, does not mean they do. People make and act on a lot of assumptions based on their own experiences. So I try to evaluate if they are doing something because of a bad system or environment that has trained them to be that way, or if they are just being a shitty person. If there is a system involved I try to aim the magic to break the system not the person. If they are just being a shitty person and justice is warranted, then justice it shall be.
- Justice can only be dealt when emotions have been eliminated from the judgment. I am all for Justice spells, especially in a world that allows for so much injustice. Justice and Revenge are close bed mates though. If I am dealing out justice when I am still riled up and angry, that isn’t justice for the situation, it is vengeance for my feelings. For me personally I work hard to eliminate the emotions and look at the situation objectively for all the reasons I stated above. I personally go after broke and bad systems, not so much individual people. Again, there is no right or wrong here, it is my personal approach.
- Love spells on others – this one gets tricky but here are my personal rules/ guidelines: If a spell is being done to attract love – “attack the love you deserve”. That way it is not directed at a single person but putting it out there in order to draw the right love to you. If you are in a relationship and wanting to enhance or rekindling the love – doing it in a way that is focused on enhancing what is already there. If the love is gone it will not be enhanced. In my opinion, forcing love into another will never last or be real. Eventually it will go sour because it was not meant to be. By choosing to enhance what may be there already, or the possibilities that may be there, still allows for the sovereignty of the other person.
- Healing others. I get a lot of healing requests. Some from the same people over and over, that I have watched continuously make the same choices that end them back up in the same place. My energy is valuable to me so I am choosy on what I spend it on. If I feel I can genuinely help, and I feel they truly need the help, then I will. If I keep seeing them do the same actions that create the need for healing, I generally won’t. This may sound harsh to some, but these are my boundaries, and made with good reason from experience.
- Protecting myself and those I care about comes first. I have no problem setting my wards to deal back damage at any attack sent my way. I may be compassionate but I am also of the mindset that if you take the first swing, you better be ready for what comes next.
Working with Spirits, Guides – the Unseen:
- I am aware and mindful that like people, they have their own sovereignty, personalities, needs, and wants. Before I call upon them or summon them for a working, I think about those aspects of them and the working I am wanting to do. Do they align? If the answer is yes, the next step is asking them. Forcing a spirit or entity to do something will not generally work in your favor if they are not a willing participant in my opinion.
- It is an exchange. I am asking them to do something for me – so I must also be willing to give them something that they want in exchange. If what is being asked of me is too high a price and they won’t negotiate – I will thank them for their time and send them on with love and gratitude. No, I didn’t get what I wanted this time, but that doesn’t mean I may not need them later on.
- Honoring the agreement. It may not always be easy, circumstances may change, but I have to uphold my end of the deal. Being honorable and holding my word is an important aspect for me. The same as it is how people build trust between each other, it is how we and the unseen build trust. This goes both ways. If they break the agreement there are consequences as well.
- Respect. They are not a slot machine and should not be treated as such. A relationship is built on more than just asking for stuff. For me, a relationship of some sort needs to be built between the spirit and myself. Even if it is just a working relationship.
These are just some of my common ethics in magic. It does not encompass them all and sometimes an extreme situation may alter them a little, but they are my guiding tenants.
Some ethics you will already know or hold for yourself. Some will develop along the way when situations pop up. The most important things is that you take the time to truly consider them, what they are for you, why you placed them there, and the possible outcomes if you chose to change or break them for whatever reason. Lastly, accepting the consequences of your actions, both good and bad ones.
As always, these are just my thoughts, considerations, and opinions based on my own experiences.
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