One of the best things about Witchcraft is that it’s empowering. When you’ve got a problem it offers you tools to help fix that problem. Magick is one of those tools, and while magick can’t cure cancer or guarantee you a winning lottery ticket, it can help a great deal with lots of other things.
In my twenty plus years as a Witch there have been some bumps in the road, and I’ve been able to fix at least a few of them with magick. Unlike some of my colleagues here I’ve never been much of a hexer, instead I like to focus on personal defense and removing negativity from my life. What follows are some of my favorite magickal techniques to do just that! I think I originally did all of these spells with people in mind, but they can easily be adapted to help overcome bad habits or environments.
Because I targeted specific people in two of these spells, some might claim that they violate the Wiccan Rede; however I believe the guilty parties involved forfeited their right to such protections when they broke bad.
POTATOES ARE AWESOME
One of my favorite ways to get rid of a negative person or influence is to write their name on a potato and then either bury my spud or throw it in the ocean. This is a pretty simple spell and doesn’t require much other than a potato.
To start hold the potato in your dominant hand and think about the person or thing that is causing you trouble. Envision that problem never bothering you or putting more gray hairs on your head. Picture them leaving your personal orbit and you living your life free of the problems they’ve created for you.
Once you’ve juiced up your potato with your intent, write the name of the person or problem troubling you on the potato. My personal favorite here is to use my white handled knife (or if you use your athame for physical cutting you can use that) and carve their name on the potato. Markers will also work here, but you’ll transfer more of your intent into the potato if you use a magickal tool.
Because I only live forty minutes from the ocean I take my carved potato and throw it into the sea. While I throw it I chant a petition to the Goddess:
Today I cast (person or problem) out to the sea
Where they shall no longer trouble me!
Leave me to live my life in peace
And with your irritation decease!
Great Lady take away this pain
And allow all to be happy again!
With harm to none I cast this spell
In my life may all be well!
So mote it be!
By flinging your potato in the ocean (or river or creek) you are symbolically throwing that person or problem out of your life. Putting them into a body of water will also take them even further from you. As the potato rots or is eaten your intention will be magickally released into the world, your will be done! If you don’t live near water burying your potato in the ground or throwing it into a compost pile or even a garbage can is a fine alternative.
INVISIBILITY SPELL
One of the most successful magickal operations I’ve ever performed is this invisibility spell. At the time I worked at a grocery store where one of our regular customers was a (convicted) sex offender (we’ll call him “Fred” in this spell, sorry other Freds). Needless to say this guy’s energy was disgustingly awful and just being around him made me ill and uncomfortable. Because I didn’t feel like I had the power to “ban him” from the store, I created this spell to make sure he’d never talk to me again.
I didn’t have a lot of resources at the time, just enough leftover cash for a couple of candles. I wrote “Fred” on one of my two candles and my own on the other one using a pin. I included a few runes of protection on my candle and nothing on his. I cleared off a spot on my altar for the spell and put the two candles rather near each other, holding the base of “Fred’s” candle while saying:
You will not talk to me, you will not see me
From your gaze I will truly be free
I am free from you and free from your gaze
Lord and Lady assist me in these ways!
You are blind and will no longer see
I will be forever through with thee!
With harm to none and peace for me
I make this plea, so mote it be!
I then lit both candles and moved Fred’s candle a few inches away from the one representing me and let them burn for a good hour before blowing them out. I repeated the spell every day, moving Fred’s candle further and further away from me until it either burned out completely after about or week, or I no had no more room to move it further away from my candle (this was many years ago-so the details are a bit fuzzy).
Every night when I repeated the spell I imagined myself at work and Fred no longer bothering me (or anyone else) there. I envisioned walking past him with him being completely oblivious to my presence. After I created that mental image I’d release it out into the world to drift away with the energy from my candles.
Once the spell was finished I didn’t see Fred in our store for a good two months, which made me worry that my spell might have killed him. Eventually he showed up again, but he no longer acknowledged me in any way, shape, or form. I could walk right by him and he wouldn’t even see me! It was fantastic. Yay magick!
HAMSA & EVIL EYE BRACELETS
The last few years have seen a surge in popularity of jewelry featuring the Hamsa Hand and the Turkish boncuk (and often together). Both symbols have long been associated with protective energies and reversing negativity. I don’t wear either symbol with anyone particular in mind, and just tend to wear them in places where I worry about what sort of reception I’m going to get.
While the symbols themselves are powerful, to get the most out of your magickal jewelry it should be activated. Luckily spells for that type of thing don’t require a whole lot in the way of tools or time. Before starting, cleanse and consecrate your jewelry. removing any residual energies that might be present.
Before activating your jewelry you should charge it with your intentions. Envision yourself wearing your new bracelet or necklace and any negativity directed at you bouncing off of you and directing back to the offending party. While doing this I often envision myself in uncomfortable environments (like a high school reunion!), and my bracelet working as desired.
When you are satisfied your jewelry is cleansed and charged set it on your pentacle or altar (even better your pentacle on your altar!). Pentacles are a conduit for magickal energies and our personal altars are full of our own personal energy, both things you want your jewelry to absorb. Picture your pentacle as a gateway to the magick of whatever you find sacred and envision that magick covering your bracelet and activating it. As you feel the energy wave your hand over your jewelry directing more of your own personal energy to it and saying:
May this bracelet help keep me free from harm
Negativity be gone by this charm!
The world’s garbage and shit will not touch me
From ill luck and bad magick I’ll be free
In the name of the Lord and Lady I activate this piece
And may all all that wish me ill simply cease!
So mote it be!
And that’s it, your magickal jewelry should be ready to go. I will usually leave whatever I’ve just activated on my altar for at least the rest of the night so it can soak up more of my personal energy making it even more effective.
May you never be troubled!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In