“There is no such thing as coincidence only inevitability.”--- XXXholic
Aleister Crowley was one of the first to popularize the modern spelling for
magick, he did this to create a grammatical difference between the arts of spiritual magick and that of stage magic.
Magick as prescribed in the spiritual sense is defined as
“The art and science of creating change through the force of will, or desire by means not yet fully understood by western thought and knowledge.”
So then we know that magick is an art form and a spiritual science that creates needed change through acts that modern science has yet to understand. Yet it has been a secret practice through many hundreds and thousands of years by mystics, witches, magicians, priests, and wise ones. Magick is no longer such a secret; it is a readily available tool for anyone who wishes to use it, a tool that is said to have been given to us by God to better our stances in the different realms of existence.
The first step in starting your magickal practice is to learn what Christopher Penczak in “City Magick” calls “the Three R’s: Reality, Rapture, and Ritual.”
Reality: There are different levels of reality, not just the physical, immutable, perceived reality that we have been trained to accept. “Perception is the key. Perception is 9/10ths of reality. The other portion of reality is affecting us, but we are unaware of it…We are multidimensional by nature, existing in this world and many others .” “Once you understand that there is more to reality than meets the eye, then you can start experiencing the other realms through meditation, magick and journeying,” (quotes from “City Magick”).
Rapture: Everybody has a different key to unlock their magickal abilities. Everybody has a different path to walk, different intentions for magick and spirituality. Some traditions share techniques while others are completely different and varied as the number of devotees and practitioners. “Forms of trance can be the key to personal magickal work. Light meditative trances lowers your brainwaves from beta level, your normal waking consciousness, to between seven and fourteen cycles per second, or alpha level. While in this altered state, you can activate your psychic senses, perceive energy as color, light or sound and make changes in the physical world by shifting these newly perceived energies. You enter a new relationship with reality by altering your perception
. “Gnosis” is another term for this phenomenon. Meditation is a simple and effective way to alter your perception of reality.” Meditation trains you to quiet your conscious mind and allow your subconscious to transcend normal reality and make a connection or Union with the divine forces. (Quotes from “City Magick”)
Ritual: All forms of magick; be they religious, ceremonial, witchcraft, folk, or city magick, consists of making something happen, a change that needs to occur. By causing change though will power on the subtle levels of reality, you make change occur here in the physical world. “Ritual is a tool to accomplish change. Some rituals are pretty powerful in themselves, but in essence, any ritual is simply a way for you to contact and raise energy. You then program this energy with an intention (or will, desire,etc) and the energy fulfills the intention you give it”, so briefly speaking, casting a spell is simply programming energy with an intent and then releasing this energy to cause the needed change to occur. (quotes from “City Magick”)
To summarize, Magick is an ancient tool used to bring necessary change into a person’s life. Magick is used by incorporating what Christopher Penczak calls “The Three R’s: Reality, Rapture and Ritual.” In order to use these concepts and conduct magick you must be open to altered states of being (reality), you must have energetic catharsis or energy generation (rapture), and you must have a way of directing the built up energy (ritual).
Honestly after your first couple of spells you start to understand the manipulation of energy a lot easier and you begin to realize how all of life is just a flow of different energies. Magick is our tool to manipulate the natural energies of life to better ourselves, through healing, protection, luck, love and self transformation. There are no limits to what can be accomplished through the arts of magick.
Now remember it doesn’t matter how elaborate or simple your ritual or spell casting is, what does matter is the focus of your intent and the release of built up energy. With that in mind let’s talk about some basic spells I use all the time:
Knot Magick: “I’ll tie up my hopes and dreams to carry them with me”
This is one of my favorite types of spell casting. Knot magick is simple, inexpensive and can be used for any magickal need one can think of. Knot magick goes way back to at least 4,000 years, in fact cuneiform tablets were produced in the Near East describing various types of magick involving the use of knots* (“Earth Power” by Scott Cunningham pg.91)
The theory behind knot magick is that tying the knot can be a magickal act which brings into physical form an abstract idea, magickal intent, conception or thought.
Essentially, you hold your cord (natural fibers and yarn work best), you calm your mind and focus on your intent, visualize your goal already coming to fruition, now hold this image as much as possible building energy by tensing all the muscles in your body. When you can no longer keep a clear image and you’ve built enough energy, tie the knot while simultaneously relaxing all your muscles. Congratulations you’ve just casted a knot spell. Like all simple spells you can build upon this for more specific energies and better concentration on your magickal intent. This can be done by using various colors of strings to symbolize specific purposes, for example: Pink for love and compassion, Red for strength and courage, Yellow for luck and critical thinking, etc. Whatever the color means to you then that is how you should use it symbolically towards your magickal purpose. Here is a simple knot spell I created to bring Luck:
Lucky Bracelet Spell
Items Need:
- Yellow Yarn
- Lavender oil (I find that patchouli works great as well but if neither are available olive oil is fine)
Instructions: First make sure you will be undisturbed for a few minutes. Now quite your mind, some find taking a relaxing bath or shower helps clear your mind, but just taking a moment to breathe and still your thoughts is enough. Hold the lavender oil and give it a whiff, think of your goal at hand and dab the yarn with some of the oil. Now hold the yellow yarn, know that yellow represents luck and critical thinking. Stare at the yarn and begin to focus on your intent, visualize yourself being happy, and living fulfilling moments in your day to day life, “feel” the luck already with you, you can accomplish anything because your are so lucky. Now as you are visualizing this, build up personal energy, tense your muscles slowly saying these or similar words three times with feeling: “Luck and Happiness is always with me, I am lucky!” now tie the yarn around your left wrist (the left hand symbolically represents receiving energy), as you tie the knot say the words again for three knots releasing all the energy you built up while doing so. You’ve completed the spell! Now when you really need a boost of luck or you need to think on your feet just sniff the bracelet and let your spell do its work.
**Note: if bracelet gets too dirty just cut off and keep in safe place DO NOT UNTIE KNOTS!
Candle Magick “With a spark of fire, I awaken my desire!”
The most popular form of magick is candle magick; it’s practical, visually stimulating and has infinite uses. The best types of candles to use are unscented, traditionally only beeswax candles were used but this is not necessary, as long as the candle is unscented and practical (in size, shape and color) then it’s perfect. The candles I use have the nick name “Spell Candles”, they are four inch candles that are the perfect size for candle magick. Most metaphysical and occult sites and stores carry them along with the proper size candle holders. Candles are perfect for magick because they can hold energy and won’t release it until they are lit. They are also great for focusing on your intent while the candle burns; this adds energy and direction to your spell. As with the cords used in knot magick, candles of different color can add to specific magickal goals. There are four steps to performing an effective candle spell. One, choose the appropriate candle(s) for the spell at hand. Make sure you have the correct colors, quantity,etc. Two, anoint or “dress” the candles, this prepares them for the magickal working at hand, you can use an essential oil that suits your magickal purpose (like patchouli for money) or for general purposes olive oil works for any spell.
Image from Buckland’s “Practical Candle Burning Rituals”
To anoint a candle you rub it with oil, rubbing it into the candle from the center to the end.
While dressing the candle you should be focusing on your magickal intent, concentrating hard on the subject. Three, say your affirmation. Affirmations are a great way to stay focused on your magickal goal. An affirmation is a solid statement about the purpose of the spell for example a candle spell for love would have an affirmation that’s something like “I am open to loving energies, loving energies are attracted to me. Love has found me!” such is an affirmation which is used to help one stay focused on the magickal intent. The fourth and final step to effective candle magick is to enchant the candle (that is infuse it with programmed energy) and then light the candle. The magick will do its work sending your desired need into the universe.
These are just a few basic spells for you to practice. Once you get the hang of the Three R’s and see how those concepts fit into every magickal act, you can start to make spells of your own. This brings us to the most important tool you can have in your magickal studies, a journal. Yes, write about every meditation, the date, the time, the moon phase, the weather, what ritual you did, the performance of the spell, the results, etc. I promise you the journal will become your most prized magickal possession. Fill it with poetry, art, spells, and dreams. The Journal will become a spell book and later a written record of your magickal pursuits. You will see what phases of the moon aids your personal power, what times are better for certain spells. The journal is a must have for every student of the magickal arts.
This ends this article on Magick 101: Beginners, I hope it was informative and helpful, especially to new seekers. I will be posting more material on Natural Magick so be sure to give me some great feed back and let me know what you, the readers, like and want to read.
Beatus Esse,
T.LH
This article was written for you by Tytus Lionheart. Tytus has been studying and practicing Wicca, magick, herbalism, and other occult workings since 2006. Tytus is a practitioner of natural magick and perfers the term “folk magician” than “witch”, yet either describes his magickal path as it is.
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Common name: Star Anise
