Spellcasting

Many people I meet who are just learning about Wicca/Witchcraft are always enchanted with the spellwork part of this religion.  When you scrape a little deeper you will find that they weren't much in to praying when they practiced their previous Abrahamic religion but for some reason spellwork calls out to them.

Newbies to the craft have really bought into the spellwork part of the Craft because for some strange reason they feel that they have a greater amount of control over their lives when they are able to cast a spell.  Of course, that's Hollywood talking.  Cast a spell for a job and get one that pays a zillion dollars a year with great medical benefits and a free car.  Cast a spell for that handsome spouse and wind up with a guy /girl fresh from the cover of a romance novel and of course he will either own an IT company that is booming or is a wildly successful rancher with a couple thousand acres and an oil well.  '

Just to be clear for the new folks, spells are forms of prayers.  While we can use them to try and change the circumstances in our life, the Gods are free to ignore/grant them just as the God of Abraham was.  No spell will ever be guaranteed to work just as no spell is ever guaranteed to fail either.

There are several things that one must consider when they are casting spells for things or people.

You must consider the ethical implications of the spell you want to cast.  You must not only think of the implications on your life but you must broaden your point of view to include others that could be affected by your spell as well.  Are you approaching the spell with the proper mental frame of mind? are you casting a spell out of desperation? fear? anger? Is the intent of the spell to make you happy while making someone else unhappy? Or...are you casting a spell from a place of peace and contentment? can you accept the outcome of the spell as it is disclosed to you from the universe? Can you accept the decision of the gods to not grant you your boon the way you thought it should be?

Many people think that when they cast a spell that it will come to fruition.  They don't always and that may be because of several factors.  The gods have decided that your request is not what you need at this time.  They may have decided that your path should turn a different way.  You may have screwed up the spell either in its casting, its creation or wording or in its execution.  (I'm not such a big fan of this reason since the Gods should know your intent behind the spell and leaving out a word or herb shouldn't make a big difference.)

As it is energy that powers a spell, its critical that a witch know as much as they can about the energy they are working with.  They should know about their own energy and how it feels to them.  They should understand and be moderately proficient in their ability to raise, manipulate and expel energy into the universe.  Spells can be done with nothing more than a thought...after all spells, in their simplest forms, are just energy.

As a witch becomes more experienced they may wish to add "stuff" to their spells.  When I mean stuff I mean that items that make it easier for the witch to focus or channel energy into a specific object or out to the universe.  Items that would fall in to this category are candle spells where one uses candles, sometimes of a specific color, help focus or store the energy.  Charms, talismans, amulets, will also fall in to this category as well.  We may wish to enchant our tools to connect them with our energy to make them more accurate (divinitory tools) or ritual tools like athames or wands to bind their energy with ours.

Potions and tinctures also fall into this category because we are using the specific energy (magickal and mundae) uses of the herbs to complement the action we are trying to take.

But it always comes back to the witch.  As a witch, we are the power generating station as it were.  We give purpose to the spell, we give energy for the spell to complete its purpose and we act as receptacles for the results we are requesting.

As a witch, I do not cast a lot of spells.  I think sometimes spellcasting can be a bit presumptuous.  It's arrogant to think that we can knock on the door of the heavens and make great changes to our destiny.  How much wiser is it to ask for assistance in working with what we have been dealt than to ask the Gods to lift us out of a situation where we may not learn the lessons that we need to learn.

Think long and hard before casting a spell.  While they are prayers to the Gods, they should not be take lightly nor done with a flippant manner.  The Gods know what you are doing...and they reward accordingly.