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Wicca
Wiccan magical spells and charms
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Quote:
 | "Spells are not about turning people into frogs or
granting wishes. A spell is a set of actions and prayers that you do and say in order to
ask for divine help with some particular aspect of your life." Mnemosyne's Realm 9 |
Charms:
According to a Webster's dictionary, the original meaning of the noun charm
was a "chanted word, phrase, or verse assumed to have magic over to help or
hurt; an incantation." 1 There are two
modern meanings to the word:
| an amulet; an object believed to have magical powers that will ward off
evil influences over the wearer, or bring them good luck.
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| "any action or gesture assumed to have magic power." 1
A Witchcraft encyclopedia expands this definition by adding: "magical
works, phrases, chants, incantations, inscriptions and actions which can be used
separately or in combination to make a charm." 2
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The encyclopedia's definition for charm is essentially identical
to the meaning that most people give to the noun spell. We will consider the two
terms as synonymous in this essay.
Spells:
Spells are one of many ritual activities that many Wiccans engage in. Not
all Wiccans cast spells; they are a matter of personal preference.
Spells can be designed to attempt to either harm or help others. Thus,
there are both evil spells and healing spells. The same magickal processes are used for
both.
The Rede obviously prevents a Witch/Wiccan from doing harm to themselves or to others,
or attempting to manipulate others, taking harmful drugs, etc. Thus, many activities that
have been traditionally attributed to Wiccans -- from the laying of curses to conducting
love spells -- are strictly forbidden to them.
| "Evil Witches", according to the early Christian church,
never existed. But by the 15th century, the church had changed its mind. They
taught that Witches did exist, that they sold their souls to Satan, flew through the air
on broomsticks, were capable of shifting their shapes to resemble animals, and that they
dedicated their entire life to harming and killing their victims. This fictional belief
was used as justification for the church's subsequent burning at the stake of hundreds of
thousands of religious heretics of all types. In reality, few if any evil Witches existed
in the 15th century; they do not exist today either, in any significant
numbers. Some individuals portray themselves as Witches for monetary gain and offer to
cast evil or healing spells at a price. But they are rare and should not be confused with
Wiccans. Such "witches" are not bounded by the Wiccan Rede or Threefold Law. so,
they feel quite free to cast evil, manipulative spells and curses. |
| Christians sometimes pray to their God with the intent of obtaining
God's help to change their life or to heal friends and family. Some light a prayer candle
in their home or church. Such rituals have many parallels with Wiccan spells. What some
Christians call prayers, Wiccans may call magickal spells. |
| Followers of other religions also cast spells. "Not all
witches cast spells, and not all spells are cast by witches. There are many magical
religions out there, wicca being one of them." 3 Most
Satanists, for example, cast spells. Their rules of behavior are different from the
Wiccan Rede, since Satanism is a separate religion from Wicca. Satanists are not
prohibited from casting evil spells on their enemies. |
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Allowable spells:
Wiccans are prohibited from doing harm to others. This is generally interpreted as
forbidding any spell that seeks to dominate, manipulate or control another person without
their expressed wishes. Consider a love spell as one example:
| A Wiccan could design a spell to make a specific person fall in love with her/him. That
would be a negative spell, because its intent, goal and effect would be manipulative -- to
control the other person for the benefit of the spell caster. A Wiccan cannot
ethically perform such a spell. 10 |
| A Wiccan could design a general spell to make a specific person more open to love in
their
life. That again is excessively manipulative. The target person could be trying to avoid
romantic relationships at this stage in their life, for whatever reason. However, this
type of spell might be allowable, if the Wiccan first obtained the permission of the
target of the spell. |
| A Wiccan who is desirous of starting a romantic relationship could cast a spell to make
themselves more open to love in their life. That would not manipulate anyone else;
it would not harm others; it would not harm the spell caster. 4,8
It would be acceptable under the Wiccan Rede. |
Before performing a spell, Wiccans carefully think through all the possible
repercussions of a spell to make certain that it does not have a manipulative component.
Wiccans believe that spells alter the course of the universe and are not to be entered
lightly without thoroughly considering all of its possible effects.
There are probably as many types and designs of Wiccan spells as there are Wiccans:
| Some spells are very simple, consisting of only a few phrases and actions. 4 |
| The spell may complex and may involve a full Wiccan ritual, including casting a circle,
invocation of deities, statement of purpose, working of the spell, meditation, thanking
the deities, and closing the circle. 5 |
| Silver RavenWolf recommends a sequence of tasks, including 4 main steps:
 | to know (yourself, what is to be accomplished...) |
| to will (belief in yourself, Divinity, your sills, practicing) |
| to dare (to change circumstances, to change your environment...) |
| to be silent (before the spell, and afterwards...) 6 |
|
Many Wiccans believe that it is not important that you follow a spell precisely. Spells
may work better if you modify them to match your personality, thoughts, and the specific
situation.
SpiritWeb maintains a list of Web sites that publish spells. 7
References:
- "Webster's New World Dictionary, 3rd college edition,"
Prentice Hall (1988), Page 237.
- R.E. Guilery, "The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft,"
Facts on File (1989). Cited in C.R. Miller, "Wiccan Myths: Charms," at:
http://fly.to/shadowdrake/wcharm.html
- Nicky R., "Spell Checks," at: http://www.the-wire.com/stagenet/wicca/spell.html
- F. De Grandis, "Wiccan love spells," at: http://www.feri.com/frand/Wicca1.html
- "Spells in general," at: http://www.newmoon.uk.com/spells/46.htm
- Silver Raven Wolf, "To stir a magic cauldron: A witch's guide to casting and
conjuring," Llewellyn worldwide, (1996). You can safely
order this book and/or read 24 reviews. Cited in Black Raven's Wicca Page at: http://www.black-raven.com/magick/spell.html
- "Spells (Experimental)," SpiritWeb, at: http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/networks-spells.html
- "OK, Where are the love-spells in this book?," Mnemosyne's Realm, at:
http://www.io.com/~be_think/lovesp.htm
- "What is Wicca," Mnemosyne's Realm, at: http://www.io.com/~be_think/wicca.htm
- Mike Nichols, "Charmed, I'm sure: the ethics of love spells,"
at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/luvethic.html
- The term "Wiccan Rede" is sometimes used to refer to the short phrase
which defines Wicca's main rule of behavior. Other times it is used to refer
to a poem which includes the behavior rule and the Threefold Law.
More info.
Books on spells:
We have made it simple for you to order any of these books safely from the Amazon.com
online bookstore. Just click on the hyperlink. Many of these books are $10.00 or less plus
shipping.
| Raymond Buckland, "Practical Candleburning Rituals," Llewellyn
Publications, (1987). [Christian & Pagan rituals] Order/see 6
reviews |
| Raymond Buckland, "Advanced Candle Magick: More spells and rituals for every
purpose," Llewellyn Publications, (1996). Order/see 6
reviews [Christian & Pagan rituals] |
| Zsuzsanna Budapest, "Grandmother Moon: Lunar magic in our lives: Spells,
rituals, Goddesses, Legends and emotions," Harper San Francisco (1991).
[Feminist magick; ancient rituals] Highly rated by customers; however, we do not
recommend her thoughts on astrological birth control! Order/see 4
reviews |
| Janet & Stewart Farrar, "Spells and how they work," Phoenix
Publishing, (1990). [Ancient and modern, basic Pagan spells] Order/see 1
review |
| >>>Yasmine Galenorn, "Embracing the moon: A
Witch's guide to rituals, spellcrafts and shadow work," Llewellyn
Publ., (1998). Order/see
46 reviews |
| >>>Francesca De Grandis, "Be a Goddess! A
guide to Celtic spells and wisdom for self-healing, prosperity and
great sex," Harper San Francisco, (1998). Order/see
23 reviews |
| Dorothy Morrison, "Everyday magic: Spells & Rituals for Modern
Living," Llewellyn Pub., (1998) [Practical spells] Order/see 9
reviews |
| >>>Silver Raven Wolf, "To stir a magic cauldron: A witch's guide to casting and
conjuring," Llewellyn Publications, (1996). [Humorous, easy to read Wiccan
magick] Order/see
24 reviews |
| Silver Hexcraft Ravenwolf, "American folk magick: charms, spells & herbals,"
Llewellyn Publications, (1998) [Pennsylvania Dutch folk magic] Order/see 4
reviews |
| Luisa Teish, "Jumbalaya: The natural woman's book of personal charms and
practical rituals," Harper San Francisco, (1988). [Vodun/Voodoo] Order/see 3
reviews |
| Patricia Telesco, "Goddess in my pocket: Simple spells, charms, potions and
chants to get you everything you want," Harper San Francisco, (1998).
[Traditional Witchcraft, not Wicca] Order/see 3
reviews |
| Valerie Worth, "The crone's book of charms & spells," Llewellyn
Publ., (1998) [Pre-Wicca traditional Witchcraft] Order/see 4
reviews |
Spells on the Internet:
Witches' Voice has an enormous amount of information:
links to Neopagan websites, lists of pagans and covens by
location; teen pagans, etc.:
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Copyright © 1999 to 2007 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2007-AUG-01
Author: B.A. Robinson
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