The Arte of Spell Crafting

The Arte of Spell Crafting 

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Spell Crafting is Magic – or a least one form of Magic. It is an ancient practice, practised by many cultures all over the world since time began. People have always sought to change their lives or environments, casting spells is one of the ways that people have brought about that which they most desire. There have always been those that have an aptitude for Magic and have been willing to use it to help others – religious priests/priestesses, mages, sorcerers, witches, wise women etc. These people had the knowledge of Magic and how to use it to tap into the Magical Realms to bring about change. This is the knowledge of Spell Crafting.

Spell Crafting is the Arte of creating a desired outcome through the use of Magic by blending ingredients together that vibrate on the same or similar magical level as the intended result. Witches, as do many other magical peoples, believe that everything vibrates at its own particular magical level, whether it’s animal, vegetable or mineral. Spell Crafting is the arte of bringing together the right vibrations to manifest a particular outcome. For instance, if the desired affect of a spell is prosperity, then items – crystals, herbs, oils for example, that vibrate at a prosperity level are brought together in a predetermined way using the energy of the moon, words or incantations, the raising of energy in an informed way, all with the intent of releasing a surge of energy into the Universe in order to bring about change in ones financial situation. The Spell Crafter uses their own energy, focus and intent to fuel and enhance the spell, but above all else integrity should be uppermost in the mind of the practitioner. At its most basic, Spell Crafting is a prayer, or a petitioning to the Gods/Universe to help us with what we require. Spell Crafting helps us to be more proactive and physical in our approach and gives a sense of ritual and of taking action.

The moment we form the idea of a spell in our minds the magic begins to take effect, as thought forms and imagery are powerful magic in themselves. We allow the thoughts to take form in our minds, thinking the ideas through, planning the Moon Phase, day of the week etc. All the time the energy is building and gaining momentum. We choose and gather the items we will need to help our focus and raise the magical vibrations surrounding the soon to be cast spell. If we are going to use invocations or rhymes we plan them and write them down. When the hour draws near we cast our circle, making our space sacred and safe, we set out our magical ingredients, keeping our intent uppermost in our minds, and we begin to raise the energy. This can be done in many ways – chanting, clapping, singing, rocking back and forth. When we judge the time ready we assemble our spell as we have seen it in our minds eye, adding the incantations or rhymes we have prepared.

We keep our intent firmly at the fore of our minds, concentrating as deeply as we can. We further raise the energy and when the time is right we release the energy with a shout, or by stamping our feet or whatever seems appropriate at the time. Once the spell has been cast and released the trick is to simply let it go! Don’t worry away at it like a dog with a bone! If you do, your Spell is less likely to work. You have petitioned the Universe/Gods for your desire and you must trust that they will act accordingly. If you trust the outcome, your spell will work.

Ethics of Spell Crafting

As with all magical work, the ethics behind the magic is of paramount importance, Spell Crafting is no different. These ethics must NEVER be overlooked as the dangers of playing with any kind of magic are very real and it’s not worth the risk. Spell Crafting therefore should not be entered into lightly or exercised without the right intent.
The basic rules of spell casting are thus:

• Another person’s free will cannot be interfered with or taken away.
• The effect on all others needs to be taken into consideration.
• If you wish to work for another, or someone asks you to work for someone else, permission of the person must always be sought.
• Cursing, bidding or binding should not be undertaken.

Before any magical work is ever attempted the practitioner should always ask themselves if the work is absolutely necessary—spell craft is no different. Many people who have no idea of magic will often approach a practitioner and ask for magical advice or spell work. Often a spell is not the answer, but people want a quick fix for all their problems and think that magic will do the trick. Often they don’t want to take responsibility for themselves or their problems, and turn to magic to solve all their ills. Any magical work taken on for these people will rarely succeed and you will have expended a lot of your energy for nothing. It is up to the spell crafter to judge the situation and act accordingly. More often than not you will decide against the work. Convincing the other person that the spell is unnecessary is the hard part! Witches spend a lot of time counselling others rather than performing magic.

With spell crafting comes many a sad story—people turn to magic when all else has failed and they are often desperate. It’s important that the witch, whilst showing compassion and empathy, is able to keep a little distance. This is both necessary for the spell crafter and the “client”; it keeps the relationship professional and enables the witch to keep herself protected and her energy guarded. As with healing, it is not good to take any of the other person’s negativity/emotions on as this will hinder your work.
A consultation is necessary before any spell work commences so that the practitioner has a good idea of what is needed. Surrounding circumstances need to be taken into consideration: Who else is involved? Who may this spell affect? Should the work even be attempted? What state of mind is the person in? What do they expect from the work? Is it practical or are they asking the impossible? All these and many other questions should be considered. Notes should be taken so that the practitioner has an all round view of the situation and can make a valid judgement as to whether the work is appropriate.



When working for others or yourself you must always ask if what is asked for is truly what is wanted. The universe often gives a person what they need rather than what they want—these can often be very different things! People need to know this and be prepared for whatever the outcome. The old saying “Be careful what you wish for—you just may get it”, is very true indeed!

Love spells

These types of spells are perhaps the most commonly requested, and the ones that require the most integrity and an ethical approach. The rules of any love spell are deceptively simple but often the hardest to make a non-practitioner understand.

You cannot take away another’s will, so you cannot make someone fall in love! Many people experience unrequited love—they think they love someone but the object of their desire does not feel the same way—so they turn to Spell Crafters to make the person love them in return. To do this you have to psychically interfere with the will of the person for whom the spell is intended and the spell therefore becomes a spell of binding or bidding (bringing someone to a place or person against their will and keeping them there). Whilst there are spells that will do this, this is tantamount to taking away the will of the person for whom the spell is intended and this is ethically and morally wrong. If the desired person cannot be attracted to you in the usual way then magic is not the answer. To use spell crafting will result in an unhappy relationship with nothing but doubt and heartache. Surely it is better to have a person love you because they have come to the relationship through their own free will and not because magic has bound them. If they are there against their will then only sadness can be guaranteed.

The best type of love spell, and therefore the most ethical, is the love spell that opens a person’s heart to the idea of love and the possibility of a new love entering their life—a non-specific person, but the person that is meant to be never-the-less. It is important that the person who requires this type of spell feels love for him, or herself, first, and can then open his or her heart to others—the love of another will often follow. Only work love spells of this nature.

The Power of Words and Rhymes

Everything has its own beat and rhythm, from the Universe pulsing and growing to the molecules within our own bodies. The Earth pulses to the ebb and flow of life, the tides, seasons, moon phases, sun phases, weather, temperatures to name but a few. Everything beats to its own rhythm of life, and we are no different.

As Magical Folk we are aware of this even if it is only subconsciously. However we work with the tides and ebb and flow of the seasons, moon and sun very closely when working our magic or when in worship and after a time we begin to notice the rhythms more consciously and tap into them on many other levels. These natural rhythms join us to everything on the Magical Web that gently pulsates with its own ancient heartbeat.
Spell casting is no different and with the use of chants and rhymes we can further raise the power of a Spell by finding a rhythm within the Spell itself. It is ok to simply write your spell without a rhyme or chant but once you have tapped into the rhythm of your spell you can access a deeper magical consciousness through the use of rhymes. The heart of the spell becomes the chant itself. By chanting or speaking your spell in rhyme you are tapping into the beat of nature, and by repeating the chant or rhyme over and over again you are entering into a mild hypnotic state that allows your unconsciousness to tap into your own ancient powers deep rooted in nature itself and to release it into the Universe to drive your desire and help make it manifest on the mundane planes. By using rhyme and chants you are helping to power your spell and send it forth. The words in a rhyme or chant forms a pattern within the beat of the piece which alters your state of mind and consciousness, by its hypnotic effect. This pattern, because it is regular, suggests order and harmony as opposed to chaos, helping you to access a positive force within yourself. Once you have reached that state of higher consciousness through your incantation, you are more easily able to access the higher realms and change events or call on spirits to help you, by psychic means.

As already stated, you do not have to use this technique in all your spells, but the simple act of creating a rhyming spell helps you to focus more intently on your needs and helps to build the energy right from the beginning. Remember, the energy begins to build the moment you have decided to work a spell, and the imagination is heightened when composing the chant or rhyme.

These rhymes can be a simple as you like. You don’t have to be a poet to compose them! You need simple words that will create a basic rhythm and beat when you recite them. State what it is you require in the form of simple poetry and set it in simple words. As you feel more confident with this type of work you can make the rhymes more complicated if you wish – but I always think that to keep it simple is best and can be more effective. Here is an example of a short spell written by a friend and used in a Poppet healing ritual:

With these threads we gently gather
A healing spell around thee hither
Health of body, heart and mind
Clear sight and vision in thee find
Drawn gently back to Earth you be
By the power of 3 x 3
Chanted spell so be it done
Strengthened by the power of One

The spell is very simple, stating what it is we wanted to achieve and what we were concentrating on, what we wanted to bring in – the healing and well being of the person for whom the Poppet was intended. It has a simple beat and is easy to memorise so that it can be chanted over and over again. It is traditional to chant these rhyming spells at least 3 times or in multiples of 3. This is because the number 3 is sacred. It is the number that describes that which was, is and will be and of course it has many representations. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the perfect speaking voice or singing voice, you just need to have a tone that is comfortable for you and expresses your own magical style. The important thing is that you understand that this type of magic takes you into a light hypnotic state so you should be aware of this and use your voice accordingly, whether you whisper the incantation, intone it or sing. Saying them silently is acceptable but I feel that the power is built with your voice more easily and you are less distracted. You don’t need to memorise it if you feel you can’t but simply have it written in front of you. However you decide to proceed imagine the words reverberating within the psychic and hidden realms helping you access that which you want.

This form of Spell Crafting is very effective and I personally include a rhyme or chant in most of my spells as it helps me focus very strongly. The beauty of this form of Spell Crafting is that is can be used alone with nothing more than a candle to help focus. All you have to do is prepare your space and yourself in the usual way, relax with a little meditation, light your candle and begin your incantation. It can be as easy as that! Obviously with time and practice you will find this method easier and become more proficient. The beauty of it is that this is a very safe way to work and one that is enjoyable. It opens your imagination and your creativity can flow more easily. You only need to make sure that the work is rhythmic and has one or two rhymes. And that, above all, the meaning is clear and good, with real intention.

Building Energy

The building of energy around your spell work is of vital importance. This process begins as soon as you decide to take any magical action when solving a problem for yourself or others through the medium of spell work. The end result of building the correct energy around your spell is to charge your spell, like a battery, and cast its energy out to the Universe.

When you have examined all the pros and cons of your intended spell and have decided that you will go ahead with it, the intent or you working has already been released into the Universe and will slowly gather momentum as you fuse your magical ideas together and start to plan the body of your spell – materials, ritual, desire, intent etc.

With each chosen ingredient the magical energy will steadily build. You will chooses herbs, crystals, candles, colours, day, moon phase etc. These will correspond with each other and the intent for your working. All these choices are built around raising the vibrational energy of you Spell Crafting, helping to strengthen it and your focus and intent, raising it above the normal frequencies so that it is powerful enough to carry your desire to the Universe/Gods.

As you prepare for the ritual itself in whatever way is usual for you, your mind will start to relax and prepare itself for the work ahead and you will begin to take on your magical persona This is the idea behind ritual and carrying out a set pattern of behaviour beforehand – ritual bath, setting out your sacred space, casting circle etc and working with familiar ritual tools and symbols these all create a state of almost self hypnoses designed to help clear your mind, raise you psychic awareness and focus your intent.

Before you start your ritual you will make sure you are relaxed and grounded and aware of your own energy – maybe your heart beat is a little faster, perhaps you are aware of you solar plexus pulsing, your palms feeling warm and tingly. All this is your own energy being raised subconsciously, ready for the Spell Crafting to begin. Start with a little meditation – thinking about your desire and intent. Put down “roots” from you base chakra into the earth and pull up the earth energy – feel it come up into your body in time with your heart beat. Breathe deeply and also rhythmically noting your body’s natural rhythm.

Whilst building energy around a spell some people find it helps to rock two and fro, helping the energy further, finding a rhythm within the body that carries beyond to the spell crafting itself. Rhyming spells help with this by finding a rhythm and a meter by which to work. When the spell is put together to your satisfaction then the energy must be raised as high as you can. This can be done in a number of ways:

Clapping – start slowly and softly, rocking to and fro, concentrating on your desire and intent, slowly build the clapping up faster and louder, raising your hand slowly upwards over the spell until the momentum takes you as fast and as loud as you can go. When ready send the energy up and out with a loud single clap and a shout, throwing your hand out and up – effectively releasing the spell

Chanting can also help – it takes the mind off the mundane and helps you focus on your work. Chanting the rhyme of the spell if you have written one is excellent, or any of the usual Witchcraft chants. Use your voice, rocking to and fro once more, and keep it up foe as long as you need to focus your energy and charge your spell.

Clapping and chanting together – this is VERY effective and a method I use myself. It really focuses the mind and helps to tap into your subconscious raising your psychic energy and therefore enabling you to really strengthen your desire and intent.

Dance – a wonderful way to build energy.

Always remember to ground yourself afterwards! This is important as you need to pull yourself back from the Magical Realms into the mundane world. You can do this simply by eating and drinking something, this will help to ground you and will give you back some of the strength you have used within your magical work.

Spell Crafting as a traditional form of magic still has its place to play within contemporary Witchcraft. Once all the ethics have been taken into account it is important to remember to enjoy your Spell Crafting to really get the most out of it. It must be approached with respect and caution, but it should always be something one enjoys and loves. As your Spell Crafting develops and grows so also will you grow within your Craft.

Through this ancient Arte you come to a magical understanding of how the Universe/Gods can be petitioned to help achieve the things we want or need in life and how the power of the seemingly most simple things around us can help us tune into our natural magical abilities.