Spell: A Loving Bell Spell by Scott Cunningham

Air is crucial to our planet, and all that reside or grow upon it. Consequently, air has been used in magick for eons. Air can be warming, cooling, refreshing, restorative and energising. It can be used to call in a storm, to blow away a storm, for divination and protection. Air is as unpredictable as it is powerful.

The winds of the four compass points bring their own magickal correspondences. For example an easterly wind can help in matters of communication, intellect and mental power. A wind from the west can be used for handling emotions, or matters of the heart.

When using air magick it is helpful to remember that the name of a wind refers to the direction it has travelled from. The following spell is ideally performed using a West Wind; a wind that has come from the West.

A LOVING BELL (West Wind)

Taken from Scott Cunningham’s Earth Power.

• Hang up a bell with a pleasant ring in a window which remains open for a good part of each day, and through which the wind blows (West Wind where possible). 

• As you hang the bell speak these words:
  “Little bell,of love, I hang you to whisper my need for love on the breezes and winds.
  Little bell of love, speak of my need for love to your brothers and sisters.
  Little bell of love, I ask you to speak softly and draw to me someone who listens.”

• Every time the bell rings it is ‘whispering’ of your need for love. Brothers and sisters is a reference to other bells, which will add their own power to the spell.
  
  NEXT - Spell: Cloutie Spell for Justice
  NEXT - Witchy Quotes: Scott Cunningham - Earth, Air, Fire, Water
  NEXT - Simple Magick: Cleansing the Home with the Element of Air
  NEXT - Personal Magick: Home Is Where The Heart Is? 

Simple Magick: Spellcasting Ethics

The ethics of spellworking are there to help us create fair, considered and effective spells. They are a set of principles that can help us avoid harming ourselves and others.

Good ethics for magick/spellcasting can be summed up as follows:

1. Never work to harm anyone, including the self. 

2. Never manipulate anyone against their will or natural development. 

3. Never assume you know all the facts about a situation or person.

4. Never work for your own gain at someone else’s expense.

5. Word spells carefully and precisely, so that rules 1-4 may be observed.

The Wiccan ethical motto “An it harm none, do what thou wilt” does not mean “anything goes,” it means a Witch should have a legitimate aim clearly in mind, and work to achieve it.

Ethical spellworking is not centred around power, or self-gain for selfish reasons. It is a positive action focused on fruitfulness, problem solving and progression. It is not angry, arrogant or destructive; instead it is designed to flow in a state of balance and harmony to bring about positive results.

NEXT - Simple Magick: The Spell Process
NEXT - Simple Magick: Magickal Beliefs & Attitudes
NEXT - Cyclamen Magick: Herbal Lore
NEXT - Review: The Book of Candle Magic by Madame Pamita 

Simple Magick: The Spell Process

I thought I would share the process by which I go about my spellwork.

Discernment 

Firstly, I consider whether a spell is really needed. A lot of the time it’s not, and some other mundane action is required instead. In some cases, I have waited as long as eight years to decide to take action. At other times, swift action has been taken. It’s at this stage we also consider what happens if we DON’T take action, and what the outcomes of a spell could be. We also need to consider how we’re going to replace the energy we have used, an important lesson in keeping the balance in Witchcraft, as taught to me by @marget.inglis_witchcraft.

Planning 

Once I have decided a spell is needed, the planning begins in my head, on the astral plane. I have already ironed out any issues, so now I start formulating a positive plan: you could argue the spell has already begun. Once I have a rough idea, I write it out on paper. Yes, I could simply formulate the plan in my head, but the act of writing it down is part of the ritual for me. It also helps me with my poor memory - I have no problem reading out the words I have written previously during my spell, provided that I take time to really feel them when I say them. 

Preparation

When the time comes I gather my supplies (if I’m using any), and set up the room. I clean and prepare myself. I have already chosen a time to perform the spell in my planning; this might be during a particular moon phase, but it’s always at a time when I know I’m not going to be disturbed.

The Act of Magick 

At this point a huge amount of energy has gone into preparing for this moment, all part of the process of manifestation. I will not go ahead with my spell if at any stage it doesn’t feel right. When I do commit, I give it everything. I enter a frame of mind that transcends that of every day living - I am a magickal being, with a magickal ability, and I will achieve my goal. 

Afterwards

It is time to tidy away, and to forget. It has been released into the universe, and will unfurl in its own sweet way. By writing my spell on paper before the spell, I can fully lend myself to “letting go” an important step in spell work.

NEXT - Simple Magick: The Threefold Law
NEXT - Simple Magick: Find Your Magick
NEXT - Moon Magick: Full Moon Intentions 

Simple Magick: Birthday Rituals

Birthdays. What do you think of them?

I think of them as being a bit liminal. You have just completed a year’s cycle, and you are just starting a new year’s cycle; but you haven’t completed much of that journey. So whilst they might not be completely liminal, they do feel like an in-between to me. Not quite here, not quite there. But that’s just my own viewpoint.

I find them to be a reflective time, and carry an energy similar to some of the festivities in the Wheel. I find myself looking back at what I have (or have not) achieved, and what I want moving forwards.

I’ll be honest, birthdays are often a deeply difficult time for me. As I grow older I find these occasions more emotional. It is not the process of growing older. That is something I absolutely cherish, and I’m aware it’s a privilege denied to many; but it’s the realisation of the passing of time, and how I might have done things differently that plays on my mind. Even if many of these things have been beyond my control.

I take the day before a birthday to collect myself and get my thoughts in order. In the evening I sometimes do a little magick. On the day I often have a little cry, before getting on and enjoying it. I can’t help it, it’s just how these things flow.

Birthdays are an excellent time to create/perform self-love rituals. There’s no-one who can love you more than you!

Things you can include in a birthday ritual:

Pampering

Letters to the old, or new, you 

Releasing or letting go of old habits, behaviours, and thoughts 

Plans, ideas, intentions and wishes 

Journaling 

A special gift from you to you!

One thing I always concentrate on the day before a birthday is this thought:

We have immense personal power, and once we realise this, it’s much easier to tap into it. We have all the tools we need at our disposal to achieve anything we desire. We have the ability to transmute the airy energy of ideas, and manifest them into something solid, something real. What am I going to create? What do I want to achieve? What am I going to do?

What month is your birthday? Do you think they’re a good time for magick? Do you have any special birthday rituals?

NEXT - Simple Magick: Experiencing The Land Wights
NEXT - Simple Magick: 10 Easy Witchy Self-Care Activities
NEXT - Poppy Magick: Correspondences 

Review: The Spells Bible by Ann-Marie Gallagher

I’ve been sorting through some books this week and stumbled across this book from many moons ago. I always feel like books are old friends so it’s lovely to be reacquainted with this one!

It’s jam-packed full of information and unusual spells, and the opening chapters on spell work and working with magick are fabulous.

I especially like the Garland Spell to Keep Love Evergreen, which creates an anniversary gift for a couple who have been together for some time, and uses the ancient meanings and magickal associations of ivy, yew, and holly - perfect for this time of year.

This is such a lovely book that I highly recommend, even if it’s just for inspiration for creating your own spells.

Witch With Books Yule Tag Challenge: Grimoires & Spellbooks

NEXT - Review: Of Blood & Bones by Kate Freuler 

Mushroom Magick: 8 Correspondences & Warnings

Disclaimer: this article is about the symbolic nature of mushrooms in spells and rituals. You must never ingest (eat) mushrooms unless you are sure of the type. If you are unsure about collecting or picking mushrooms please enlist the help of an expert.

Mushrooms come in all shapes, sizes and colours, and as such some are conducive to magickal practice.

Magickal Correspondences for Mushrooms:

Chanterelle

Abundance, happiness, house warming, fertility, joy.

Death Cap - POISONOUS

According to folklore, a Death Cap picked under the New Moon has its roots in the Underworld. Associated with binding, curses, hexing, but also abundance and joy.

Fly Agaric - POISONOUS

Associated with astral travel, divination, forest matters, the Fae, hexes, protection, psychic ability.

Liberty Cap -POISONOUS

A magical amplifier, Liberty Caps are associated with creativity, and are metaphorical for the night, stars.

Oyster Mushroom

Aphrodisiac, emotional healing, forgiveness, lust and love.

Saffron Milk Cap

Change, cleansing, growth, healing, honesty, justice, strength.

Shiitake Mushroom

Earth, fertility, good health, grounding, healing, strength, virility, youthfulness.

True Morel

According to folklore the Fae and other elementals make homes in the Morel’s small holes. Used for breaking curses, Fey magick, glamour magick, necromancy, protection, and spirit work.

Do you use mushrooms in your Craft?

Simple Magick: Liminal Spaces

This week’s @witch.with.me prompt over on Instagram is “Working with the Cosmos”. Cosmos is originally a Greek word, meaning both "order" and "world”. The ancient Greeks thought that the world was perfectly harmonious and in impeccable order. This got me thinking, and I arrived at liminal spaces.

To be in a liminal space you have not yet left somewhere, and you have not yet arrived somewhere else. It’s a space between an ending and a beginning, a world between worlds, a transition between two phases.

Examples of Liminal Spaces:

Cemetery gates

Cliff edges

Stairwells

Doorways

Graveyards

Crossroads

Wells

Valleys

Abandoned buildings

Shorelines

The veil is considered thin in these places; they’re a boundary between this world and the other world, and as such their energy can increase the power of spells and rituals. They are great places for spirit work, meditation, astral travel and divination.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Horse Brasses

Spell: Graveminding Ritual

A graveminding ritual is one that anyone can undertake, regardless of spirituality or religion. It is purely about connecting in with, and venerating, the dead, and holding space for them.

Graves are often left unattended and unvisited for long periods of time, so caught up are we in the busy hamster-wheel of life, so Samhain is the perfect time to carry out this special visit.

For this ceremony you will need:

Gardening and cleaning equipment; a water bottle spray, gentle soap, and a cloth

Flowers/floral tributes

Candle

Cakes, cookies, or biscuits

On your way to the cemetery bring your beloved dead in to your mind, and think about the time you shared together, or the role they played within your life. Recall memories you have of them, and picture them in your mind’s eye if at all possible.

When you arrive at the grave spend time cleaning it and clearing away any dead grass or foliage. When you are ready, leave your tributes, saying a few words if you wish. If there are others with you allow them to do the same.

Light the candle, and imagine that your connection with them is represented by the flickering flame. Appreciate that their memory will always burn in you.

Stay here for some time in quiet meditation and contemplation. Partake in food and drink and if there are others with you you may wish to share stories, poems, readings, or songs. Say these words:

As the veils of Samhain fall, 

Sense this light, hear my call,

Blessed dead in earthly tomb, 

Your memory in me abloom.

You may wish to spend the whole day undertaking this pilgrimage, and if the grave of your loved one is far away, or it takes a lot of cleaning and clearing up, then it is entirely possible it may do so.

Leave the candle burning if you can, if the cemetery authorities allow it.

Graveminding ritual taken from The Journey into Spirit by Kristoffer Hughes. 

NEXT - Spell: Protective Evening Beauty Ritual
NEXT - Cemetery Stuff: Extracts From Regulations
NEXT - Cemetery Stuff: Memento Mori

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

Personal Magick: My Beltane Handfasting

This photograph of my handfasting at Beltane 2016 is one of my favourite pictures. It’s a good depiction of who we are, both individually and as a couple. We are both witches - the other person is who we have chosen to be with, this is how we live our lives, this is how we worship, this is how we observe and celebrate the milestones in our life.

It made perfect sense to be handfasted at Beltane; as we celebrated the union of the Goddess and Green Man, the coming together of male and female energies, we also came together as Man and Wife. We were lucky to be handfasted at our beloved Avebury Stone Circle by the Archdruid and Keeper of the Stones, Terry Dobney, who also happens to be our dear friend. Here he is offering us the apple in our ceremony.

Beltane is a special time when the veil is thin again. It is a time of celebration, of merriment, of festivity, of joy, of abundance, of fertility, of making love in the fields, enjoying your sexuality and sensuality openly, and of embracing your masculinity or femininity. It’s a time to recognise and remember that our connection to nature is absolutely vital.

Samhain is the beginning of Winter; and opposite on the Wheel, Beltane is the beginning of Summer - the days are longer, the Sun is warm, the land is blooming. And so are we.

What is your favourite festival and why? Have you ever been to a handfasting? What are you doing for Beltane? 

NEXT - Beltane Preparations: Preparing for Summer
NEXT - Personal Magick: Our Handfasting Besom
NEXT - Dear Terry: Until We Meet Again
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Ring Stone at Avebury

Simple Magick: Casting A Circle

Casting a circle is personal preference. Many witches choose not to cast a ritual circle, believing that it is entirely possible to work magic without one. Many Wiccans do cast circles for most types of magic.

Of course it’s not necessary to cast a circle to experience divine presence, and when you do cast circles what you choose to cast it with is a personal choice. Some use a wand, some use an athame; others choose something different altogether, such as a finger or crystal. It is said that the teacher and activist Starhawk uses a pen.

Wicca & Witchcraft for Dummies sets out some of the many benefits of casting a ritual circle:
The circle keeps in the personal power for the ritual. This is the reason Wiccans usually cast a circle for a ritual or to work magic.

The circle keeps out distracting, negative or unwanted energy.

The circle casting helps prepare a person psychologically for a spiritual experience.

The circle is a safe, consecrated place to enter a light trance and engage the unconscious mind.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Kitchen Candle Magick

Simple Magick: Kitchen Candle Magick

For me, ritual and magic extend from the altar and into the kitchen. Recipes are a ritual of sorts; they are a set of tasks or actions performed to a prescribed order.

I have a kitchen journal which is much like my Book of Shadows; it is a collection of recipes, things that I’ve tried, scribbled notes, successes, failures, and all sorts of experiments. It has been with me since I left home, and some of the recipes ~ such as Lammas Loaf and Beltane Oat Cakes ~ appear in both books.

I am a food lover and there is a spiritual and energetic aspect to food; the way it is prepared, how it is shared, what it may represent, its vibration, and the fact that we take it into our bodies.

There are several rituals I like to carry out when I am cooking, cleaning, and even turning the light out at the end of the day. I especially like a candle ritual focusing on the use of a candle as a symbol of spirit, which I light while I am cooking, which can be found in The House Witch (p.232) by Arin Murphy-Hiscock:

Sacred flame,
Burn brightly in my heart,
I light this flame in recognition of your sanctity.
Bless me, sacred flame,
With your light.

NEXT - Simple Magick: Divination & The Clairsenses

Spell: Protective Evening Beauty Ritual

The other day someone asked me if I have a witchy beauty regime or ritual, and I do, so I thought I’d share.

Each night I cleanse my face with these crocheted face pads. They were made for me by a friend and they’re brilliant because you just throw them in the washing machine; they’re so much better for the environment than cotton pads.

When I get up to my room I sit on the edge of my bed and brush my hair with this beautiful comb my husband gave me. This is quite a feat in the winter because with thick stone walls and no heating it’s very cold. But as I am combing I visualise any negativities from the day being removed, any negative thoughts or energies being sent from others being removed, and I keep going until I am happy.

Once I am done I apply R&B Hair Moisturiser by Lush, which I visualise as a protective barrier (I have enchanted it), which smells amazing! I am now ready to get into bed, snuggle up with my husband, and dream sweet dreams.

Do you have a daily or nightly ritual? 

NEXT - Spell: Protective Bell Spell
NEXT - Simple Magick: Using Black, Pink & White Salt in Witchcraft
NEXT - Sacred Symbols: Elhaz of the Elder Futhark

Ritual: Ostara Spring Ritual

A blessed Ostara everyone! Spring is here, we’re moving towards longer days, the world is waking up, and hopefully your creativity, intuition, and inspiration, are, too! Just as we are ready to celebrate the arrival of Spring, with its cheery daffodils, lambs, and crocuses; we take this time to celebrate the divine also.

Ostara Ritual
The purple candle represents the divine in our lives. You don’t need to believe in a particular deity; it can represent anything you consider divine - including the divine being that is you.
Perform this ritual outside, early in the morning if you can. It is now time to wake up and reconnect with the energies of the Sun and the Earth, and observe the energetic shift as we move through the wheel.

If your tradition requires you to cast a circle, do so.
Light the purple candle.
Steady yourself, breathe the fresh air, observe and acknowledge what is happening around you.

Spring is here, a time for cheer!
We move on swiftly through the year.
The divine makes its presence known,
I observe the changes I am shown.
Flowers, lambs, the growing season,
More intuition, thought, and reason.
Connect again with Mother Earth,
Observe her blossom, and give birth.
Absorb the energy, and the light,
A longer day, a shorter night.
I give thanks for all you give to me;
The Divine, I cherish thee.

Take a moment to meditate on the flame. Think about all that you are grateful for. Think about the divine, and how you fit into this concept. When the time is right end the ritual. 

NEXT - Pagan Holidays: Beltane 

NEXT- Blessed Ostara! 

NEXT - Personal Magick: My Beltane Handfasting