Witches cast spells. Witches and other magic workers also make charms and talismans and perform rites and rituals. I practice them all. Honestly I’m a magic nut, I love every form of magic I’ve ever learned!
The reassuring certainty of traditional spells
I love knowing that spells exist – and they work! Like many Witches I collect traditional spells handed down from one generation of Witch to another. Every Witch I know has a version of the Nine Knot Spell. My favorite example of traditional knowledge is the instruction to gather dew at dawn and on special days like Beltane to use in beauty and love magic.
The excitement of making new spells
Spellcraft is more than just what people already know, there’s room for new ideas and innovation. I love figuring out how to work a new spell, as in Cord Magic where I created a new form of the Witch’s Ladder. I get really excited when I create a new category of spells, as in Practical Magic for Beginners which combines the four elements and the seven planets to make candle spells.
Knowing how magic works
Magic craft is more than just spells handed down from the past. Magic workers learn correspondences and natural laws that make spells, charms and rituals work. We know the colors and metals and symbols that evoke the powers of the elements and the powers of the planets. We schedule our rites to catch the magical tides at full flow and then release what we are letting go in the ebb. We know the laws of sympathy and attraction.
The joy of physical craft
All forms of magic use the mind to create an intention with words. The words of the intention are activated by visualizing or feeling or knowing the intention. Spells and magic craft use the mind too, but they also leverage the power of the physical world. Rites and rituals use physical tools like cup, wand, knife and disk to move energy. They use the powers of the elements, water to cleanse, earth to charge, incense to consecrate. Magic workers shape metals into tools and jewelry and carve gemstones with symbols and words of power to harness their unique powers to a specific intention. Spells gather natural materials like flowers, leaves, feathers and stones to create a reservoir of potency.
It is gratifying to have the knowledge about these powers to be able to use them. The sensation of holding a physical object helps to register the magic as real. It’s great fun to wave a wand, draw a pentacle with a knife, sprinkle water from a cup. Crafting everyday objects is fun, but it is uniquely satisfying to collect materials and assemble them in a way that is both aesthetically appealing and magically effective.
Taking care of myself and my family
Magic craft is practical. I cast spells and practice rites for everyday ends: to heal myself and my friends, to provide material things for my family, to protect us all from a myriad of afflictions. I’m actively working for our wellbeing and bend luck in our direction. Magic doesn’t exempt me from physical work – cleaning the house, cooking dinner, managing money and getting in my daily step count. Magic craft does give me another tool in the toolbox to the best possible life for myself and the people I love.
Spellcraft isn’t just something I do at the full moon. I do it any time I need something to happen. It’s not just a chore though, it’s a pleasure – I do magic craft when I want to have some fun. After so many years of working magic it’s become a natural part of my day and my approach to life. I’ve learned that the more you do it, the greater the reward you reap. It brings so much benefit and joy I can’t imagine doing without it!
