Simple Magick: Magickal Beliefs & Attitudes

Following on from another post, I want to discuss the attitudes and beliefs I believe crucial for spell casting and ritual.

Integrity:

I believe having integrity is very important as a magickal person. If we do not keep our word and follow through in our ordinary lives, how are we to believe in our words and actions during workings; and follow them through to spellcasting success, in our magickal lives? I believe that if we behave poorly, and without honour, we risk straying into dangerous territory with our magick.

Language:

Our words are magick, which is why it’s called ‘spelling.’ If our words mean nothing - that is, we don’t do the things we promise, or we are careless with them - then how can we successfully apply words and language to our spellcasting, especially in the form of incantations and chants? If there is no truth in the words we speak, and they have a low vibration energetically, then how can we expect to use those words to do our bidding and manifest energetically in our spellwork? Words have their own vibration; pick them, and use them, carefully.

Belief: 

Following on from the Magician’s rule ‘to will’. As well as our intention and determination to create, there has to be absolute belief in ourselves. When I set my mind to something, whether it be magickal or mundane, I have absolute belief in myself, and my ability. There is no space for anything else. If I do fail at something I simply acknowledge the reason why, and believe that next time I will succeed.

Love & Acceptance:

It is important to love ourselves. We are as we are meant to be. We have to embrace the darker half and the lighter half, if indeed we are to be whole. If we understand there’s magick, and we can create it, then we must be magickal, too! Which is surely worthy of love? We are each our own priest or priestess; and to hold ourselves in a divine and sacred way when we are expressing ourselves magickally - ie spellcasting - means we need to love ourselves. Hold your head high, and work your magic.

Runes

Clockwise from Top:

Wunjo - joy, happiness, wellbeing, success

Jera - harvest, reward, natural cycles, fruition, fertility, growth

Mannaz - the self, intelligence, support, humanity

Elhaz - (on its side) divination, health and healing, foster spiritual awareness,  clarity

Middle:

Nauthiz - need, necessity, have patience

NEXT - Simple Magick: The Mind

Fabulous Folklore: Norse Magick

For the ancient Norse peoples magic and ritual were a normal part of everyday life. The Vikings’ beliefs were largely polytheistic, and magic was traditionally seen as a feminine practice. Seeresses and priestesses were highly revered people; they cared for the spiritual and physical needs of the community using herbalism, and they could foretell the future using prophecy, which was especially helpful before a battle.

Seiðr is an old Norse term for sorcery or witchcraft. Seiðr involve spoken incantations or ‘spell-songs’ known as galdr. These were chanted to reach higher states of consciousness; which were used to commune with spirits. One would be seated on a ‘high-seat’ whilst communing with ancestral spirits and the deceased. Trance work was occasionally used to receive messages, as was ‘mound-sitting’; sitting on a burial mound or chamber to communicate directly with the dead.

Freya and other Norse goddesses practised seiðr; it was Freya who taught the art to Odin, who was later admonished by Loki for doing so, as it was considered unmanly. It was uncommon to find men carrying out these practices; male roles were focused on politics, and hunting, farming and trading, and the practice of seiðr by men had connotations of unmanliness or effeminacy.

Various scholars have debated the nature of seiðr, some arguing that it was shamanic in context, involving visionary journeys by its practitioners. Accounts of seiðr made it into sagas and other literary sources, and further evidence has been unearthed by archaeologists and historians. 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Yule Tree

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Evergreens of Yule

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Land & People 

Witchy Quotes: Gudrun of Mimirsbrunnur - Prayer for Receiving Stewardship of Land

O Great Landvættir beneath my feet,
I call you, I awaken you, I offer you friendship!
In the name of Jord, Green Mother,
I swear I will not exploit this land out of greed.
In the name of Frey, Lord of the Grain,
I swear I will plant each seed with thought and reverence.
In the name of Freya, Lady of Spring,
I swear I will see the beauty of my land as a source of soul’s comfort.
In the name of Nerthus, Mother of the Vanir,
I swear that I will keep the secrets of this land as jewels.
In the name of Skadi, Winter Queen,
I swear I will leave wild places for your children.
In the name of Ullr, Hunter of the Wild,
I swear I will not take too many of your children, even to feed my own.
In the name of Iduna, Orchard-Grower,
I swear I will be grateful for every mouthful this land gives me,
And that I will give back what is given with all due respect and joy.

~ Gudrun of Mimirsbrunnr 

NEXT - Witchy Quotes: Hermann Hesse - Wandering
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Norse Magick
NEXT - Sacred Symbols: Runes