Some Witches DO Curse

Ok, it's been a while since I did a "let's get this straight" type of post, and this is one I should really have done a while ago.

There seems to be this ever growing misconception that modern witches don't curse. Well that's partially true, as some modern witches don't curse, others however most certainly do.

This belief seems to stem from the fact that in some of the more modern ritualistic manifestations of witchcraft, Wicca for example, things like the Three Fold Law seem to inhibit cursing and hexing. However, not all witchcraft practitioners belong to paths like this. A lot of re-constructionist practitioners will often quote "If ya cannea curse, ya cannea cure!" Meaning to curse is as natural a part of our nature as it is to cure.

Cursing and hexing form a huge part of our magical heritage, from poppets to spoken charms. In years gone by some cunning folk made a living from protecting people against them and undoing them. This is documented everywhere from court records dating from witch trials, right through to the large collection of poppets displayed at the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting some witches lock themselves away in a tower with flying monkeys reining terror and misfortune over everyone. What I'm saying is, occasionally, usually by way of defense, you need to very firmly take action against someone, and there's no reason that this can't be magical.

It's true, the universe has a way of balancing itself, so randomly hexing people into oblivion will most likely come back and bite you on the backside. However, there is also a school of thought that believes that as a magical practitioner, you can be the means by which balance is restored. In other words, eventually a jackass will annoy a witch, and that witch may well be the source of that persons karmic comeuppance.

Magical Alphabet: C is for Cleansing

Cleansing is a word you hear a lot in magical groups, but want exactly does it mean?

Well from time to time you may feel a negative energy in a place, or that something isn't quite sitting well with ritual tools, or that your tarot deck feels heavy and clumpy. These are signs that there is cleansing work to be done. If you use magical energy in your life, over time you become a lot more aware of it, and it will soon become apparent that if energy is... well... sticky! A part of the energy you call in for each spell, ritual or reading, will remain. This is why you get such an apparent atmosphere at certain historic site, which is the good side of this. The bad side is that if you use a tool or place a lot, for lots of different types of ritual, the energies can start to get a little confused with one another. Cleansing is the practice of removing the affects of that energy. A lot of people view it as totally removing the energy all together, but I feel leaving it there in a sort of “dormant state” adds a power to the place or object.

There are a lot of different ways to cleanse, and it can involve some very elaborate ritual work, but other methods are very simple.

Bells – The sound of ringing bells is a good way to cleanse and clear any space.

Citrine – This crystal is said to not only clear negative energies, but is also thought to be “self-cleansing”. I keep tumble stones of citrine in the bags where my tarot decks are kept for this reason.

Incense – Burning Sage, Frankincense or Copal (to name but a few) will cleanse a space, objects and tools can also be passed through the smoke.

Moonlight – People often leave objects and tools that need cleansing out in direct light from a full moon.

Salt – Burying objects in salt (natural sea salt) will cleanse them.

Magical Alphabet: "B is for Blue"

A lot of magical endeavors start with creating the right kind of environment, and colour plays a huge part in that.

Today we're going to look at the colour blue.

Elemental association: Water

Tarot association: Cups

Magical associations: Emotions and healing.

Directional association: West (usually, depending on tradition)

Blue can be incorporated into ritual and magical work via a large number of means including clothing, candles, ink and altar decorations. The colour blue can also be incorporated with the use of crystals, some of which are not only blue in colour but have a reputation to strongly resonate with healing and emotional energies. Blue Lace Agate, for example is good for emotional healing, known for calming people and providing clarity of thought.

Super Moon

Powerful Magic...

A few different things this week led me to thinking about "powerful" magic. Story books are full of illustrations of Mages surrounded by whirl-winds of fire and ice, changing the very fabric of the universe... but how does this translate to real witchcraft and modern magical practices?

I started by asking some friends "What is the most powerful magic spell/ritual you know of?" I received a range of answers. A few people said they were the personal ones that cause an emotional/spiritual shift. Some said the most powerful magic is that which happens naturally, like falling in love or life itself. Someone said it's the rituals that seem to write them selves, flowing naturally from your lips or pen. Others looked to ancient magical text, such as the Abra-Melin.

Obviously there is no definitive answer to this, it's really dependant on what you view as powerful. But, I've thought on this for a while and came to a rather unexpected conclusion.

For me powerful magic has three main ingredients:

   - Focused intent

   - A historical/ancestral connection, a pre-set pattern of some sort that magical energies are already imprinted on.

   - Utter un-questioning belief in what you are doing.

No-one can focus on what they want more than a child, desired objects and outcomes are decided on instantaneously, almost instinctively. When they decide they want something, they really want it.

Since 1940 a man named Walt planted a singing cricket and mis-guided puppet into the hearts of generations of children... and a ritual to be repeated a hundred times a night, all over the world was born... and the innocence of childhood, and instinctive knowledge of magic means there is not a doubt in their minds that their wish will go un-noticed.

I cast my most powerful magical spell aged about 4 in order to conjure a new doll!

Plants and Magic

Plants form an integral part of magic, as they have throughout history. The use of herbal medicines go back thousands of years, and over those thousands of years the way herbs and plants are used and the people with access to them has grown and diversified.

Within witchcraft they are commonly used by being turned into incense or burnt as smudge sticks, to decorate places and altars and as ingredients within potions or meals to celebrate Sabbats and Esbats.

As the demand for plants with magical associations grows, so does the number of retailers that stock them. It is important to check that wherever you purchase any magical items, you ensure they have been grown or manufactured in a sustainable, organic way.

Of course, in an ideal world everyone would all grow and harvest their own herbs, or forage for wild ones. If you do decide to go down the route of growing your own, it is recommended that you use a book or calendar that details key dates in the lunar cycle, in order to gain maximum magical energy. Many practitioners have found that gardening is a magical ritual in itself. If it’s not something you have done before it is certainly worth trying.

If you decide to collect plants and herbs from the wild please be respectful of where you collect them from and give something back; collect seed pods from that area and scatter them to help the area grow. It goes without saying that rare or protected plants should never be removed from their habitats.

There are many sources of information available for the different ways in which you can use plants and herbs in spells and rituals. ‘The Book of Magical Herbs: Herbal History, Mystery, & Folklore’ by Margaret Picton and Michelle Pickering is a popular choice. It is a beautiful book that provides information on the history and folklore surrounding the everyday plants and herbs found in kitchens and gardens.

If you want a big no-nonsense sourcebook to look up the properties of a wide range of different herbs, you would be hard pushed to find a better book than ‘The Herb Book: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to More Than 500 Herbs’ by John B Lust. Another good book, and firm favourite amongst the magical community is ‘Cunningham's Encyclopaedia of Magical Herbs’ by Scott Cunningham.


There are also countless websites that provide information on this subject matter. An important point to remember is that whenever you read about magical correspondences associated with plants, that they will be slightly different for everyone. The more you work with plants, the more your instincts for what will work where, will grow.

For an article about specific magical plant correspondences click here.

Circle Casting

Casting circles for spells and rituals is something practiced by many branches of witchcraft and Paganism. The purpose and necessity of casting a circle is something that will vary between practitioners and covens.

Some believe that circles are cast to create a protected area in which to practice magic. Others see them as a way of building magical power and focusing it into the ritual that is being carried out. There are others that believe they are a way of acknowledging, paying respect to, and thanking the deities and magical energies that are present during rituals and spells.

As you can imagine, due to the difference in believes as to what a circle is for, there is also a large sliding scale as to how important and elaborate a part of rituals it becomes.

Personally, as a Hedge Witch, circle casting as we know it today isn’t really a big part of my chosen tradition, but it’s still something I often do. Granted in a very short simple format, but I find it creates a nice start and finish point to spells. This may sound a little strange but after a day at the office or running round after children having something you do as a regular prelude to workings is a good way to enter the right mind set and clear away the cluttered thoughts that may distract your concentration.

Below is a very simple example of circle casting, as with all magical workings it’s best to come up with your own adaptation and make it personal to you.

The circle itself may or may not be marked out physically. This can be done with anything you choose but rope and salt are common choices. Sometimes candles are used to mark the directional correspondences on the circumference of the circle, (Green for North, Yellow for East, Red for South and Blue for West). Sometimes representations of each element is used to mark directional correspondences, either around the circumference or on an alter within the circle, (Earth for North, Air for East, Fire for South and Water for West).

Before the circle is cast the person leading the ritual will welcome the Lord and Lady, or specific deities that they wish to be present.

They will then walk round the edge of the circle in a clockwise direction (traditionally starting at the East) marking it out with either an athame, a staff, a wand or simply their finger. They may stop at each compass point to welcome the energies / God / watchtower, or they may complete the circle and then welcome them. An example of what they may say would be:

“Energies of the East, I ask you watch over this rite with powers of knowledge and communication, guided by Air, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the South, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of strength and will, guided by Fire, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the West, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of peace and emotion, guided by Water, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’,
Energies of the North, I ask you to watch over this rite with powers of prosperity and stability, guided by Earth, I bid you ‘Hail and Welcome’.”

Once the circle is cast it is generally believed you should not cross it’s boundary, and break the circle, if it can at all be helped. Some practitioners will cut a doorway in the circle if someone needs to leave by using whatever they used to draw the circle to mark two small lines across the boundary of it. Once the person has left / re-entered they then re-connect the two edges.

One, if not the, most important part of casting a circle is for all the participants to visualise it as clearly as they can. For most people this will be a circular wall or sphere of light, but it is a very personal thing and will vary for everyone.

Once the spell or ritual has been complete, it is important to then take down the circle. Confusingly this is often called ‘opening’ the circle as people often visualise the energy or light dissipating outwards, rather than falling in on itself.

To do this the person leading the ritual will walk around the circumference in an anticlockwise direction tracing the outline of the circle. Either whilst they are walking and reach the compass points, or after they have finished they will say something along the lines of:

“Energies of the East, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can, go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’,
Energies of the North, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’,
Energies of the West, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’
Energies of the North, thank you for joining me in this rite, stay if you can go if you must, I bid you ‘Hail and Farewell’.”

They will often use a similar statement format for thanking and saying goodbye to the Lord and Lady or other deities, which they will do next.

As I said previously this is a basic outline of how circles are cast. Some are much more complicated, and by the same token some or much simpler. Some plainly consist of visualising the circle and mentally acknowledging the different elements and directions associated with them.

However you choose to embrace this practice, like all things magical, it will develop personal power and meaning the more you do it.