No matter how many spell books you open, no matter how many witches you ask, sometimes you will never be able to find a spell which 100% suits your situation or fulfils your needs. This is the first in a long line of good reasons to write your own spells, the next being that spells you’ve created yourself generally work better for you than those written by others.
- Decide your purpose. Intent is everything in witchcraft, and magic will not work unless you have a goal firmly in mind. Frame your desire clearly in your mind; you need to be able to feel your need. it is important to note as well when deciding your purpose, and again when casting your spell, to mind your tenses; saying “I will be loved” puts the goal in the future, forever out of reach. Saying “I am loved” manifests your magic in the present.
- Decide your method. Is this going to be a candle spell, or a sigil, poppet magic, make use of amulets and talismans? The purpose of your spell will help you to decide what method to use. Amulets, talismans, and jar spells provide ongoing magic to a person or area. Poppets are used for sympathetic magic, when you are casting a spell upon another person. Candle spells release your magic and intent into the universe via the flame, and can be used for a multitude of spells. Knot magic is closely linked to weather magic, and is also great for a binding. Deciding on the way you will cast your spell will then help you to:
- Decide your materials. What colour candle/s are you going to use, and how man? What will your poppet, amulet, or talisman be made of? What herbs, spices, or crystals are you going to use? Getting your hands on a good book of correspondences will be invaluable, a book to give you an idea of what magical properties herbs/spices/crystals etc. have. (Check my Resources page for some suggestions, and my previous Beginner Guide 6.) Don’t forget to use your own associations as well; just because a book tells you to something, doesn't mean that your own instincts are wrong.
- Decide how you will cast the spell. So you know why you are doing it, you know what you are doing it with, but how exactly will you do it? Will you anoint the candle? Burn or bury the poppet? Wear the amulet or keep it somewhere in your house? Again, your purpose will help you here. Protection for you generally means you’ll wear the amulet, whereas protection of a place mean’s you’ll keep the amulet in that place. You can let the Elements help, by releasing your spell through Earth, Air, Water, or Fire, or a combination.
- Decide when to cast the spell. Very few spells are so urgent, in my experience, that they must be cast right now! Most can wait for the right time. Knowing the right phase of the moon or day of the week can add tremendous power to your spell, as these have their own energies and associations. Certain times of the year can add great power to certain types of magic; the Wheel of the Year is not just religious, it has magical connotations as well. Imbolc is a great time for fertility magic, with the coming of Spring and new growth, while Samhain is a good time for divination or communication with spirits, as the veil between our world and the world of the dead is generally considered to be quite thin at this time. This being said, know that if for whatever reason you have to cast your spell right now, that that will not necessarily make your spell any less valid than if you wait for midnight on the night of a lunar eclipse that falls on Samhain.
- Incantations. These are not 100% necessary. Not all witches say anything, and it does not weaken their magic. Spells can be completed in absolute silence. But there is power in words, in lending your voice to the spell. They can go a long way to shaping your energy and intent. I’m personally a fan of a nice little rhyming couplet (iambic pentameter optional), or a little bit of Latin. They hold power for me, and thus lend power to my spells. Does making a rhyme or saying something in Latin make magic happen? Of course not, but I like to let my magic flow through those words.
- Put it all together and cast your spell. You know the what, why, when, and how of your spell. Now is the time to actually cast the spell and make your magic happen. Have faith in your abilities and your magic. Trust that what you’ve created is powerful. Once you have cast the spell, write it in your grimoire, including what you felt when casting it, leaving room to write in any results when or if they happen. Don’t be disheartened if your spell doesn’t work; remember, you can learn just as much from spells that didn’t work as you can from those that did. (Have a bit of a read through my Beginner Guide 5 for some indication of why your spell might not work, and why that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)
DISCLAIMER: This is just the process I go through to write my spells. many other witches may have many other methods of creating their own spells. Also, the techniques and methods mentioned in this post are listed just as examples; there are countless methods of casting spells, all with their own strengths and limitations.
