Do Witches Really Cast Spells?

                                                                                                             Now that we've explained what witchcraft is, you're probably wondering if witches really cast spells, or if spells are real at all. My answer to both of those questions is yes, witches cast spells, and spells are real. However, spells are not the same as what they show on movies. Unlike Sabrina the Teenage Witch, we cannot change our clothes with the snap of a finger, we cannot change anyone into any sort of animal, and unlike Samantha of Bewitched, we cannot wiggle our nose and clean our house. However, we can bring about subtle changes, and even big changes, it all depends on our intentions and how deeply we feel about something.

There are so many spells out there, and so many different kinds of spells. There are love spells broken down into categories of finding love, keeping love, attracting love, finding true love, finding a ;) lover, avoiding a lover, break up spells (to break up your relationship), and many many more options there. I started with love spells because for some odd reason love spells have always been, and still remain, the most popular spells out there. There are spells to help your business, spells to help you find a job, spells to help you keep a job, and so much more. There are spells covering protection of all sorts, because since the beginning of time people have always felt the need for protection from all sorts of things. There is a spell for just about anything you can imagine, except turning people into something other than human.

But, what exactly is a spell? Is it something in a strange language that I can't speak? Well there are spells out there in Latin and other languages, but you don't have to speak in tongues to cast a spell. A spell in it's simplest form is just an intention, a want, a need, something you feel so deep you know you have to have it. I love the movie Halloweentown, and in that movie Grandma Aggie tells her granddaughter that magick is simple, you just have to want something, then let yourself have it, and I've learned through my practice that, that statement is very true! It sounds simple, but it's not as easy as you think. We humans have a way of naturally telling ourselves no. We limit ourselves by thinking "I can't do that," or "That's not possible," and so many other things. By telling ourselves that, we effectively cut off our time to our magickal energy.

Think back to when you were a child, and everything in the world was possible. The tooth fairy existed and came and took your teeth, leaving you money or something else in exchange. Santa Clause was real, and somehow even though he is a rather rotund man, he could squeeze down chimneys and if you didn't have a chimney somehow he just magickally appeared to eat cookies and leave you presents under the tree. Back then fairies/faeries were real, and there was no limit to what we can do. I bet you even saw fairies/faeries as a child, but somewhere along the way you convinced yourself that they weren't real, just a figure of an overactive imagination, etc. I can tell you that anything you believe in is real. In general, you believe that the sun will rise each morning right? What would happen if you just one day decided to stop believing that the  sun would rise in the morning? No I'm not saying that you chose to not be around to see the sun, I'm saying you just didn't believe it would rise. Well, in all honesty, the sun would probably still keep rising, but who's to say that's not because although you don't believe it will rise, other people do. The same applies to magick. Just because you've convinced yourself it's not real, doesn't mean it isn't.

Now there are several things that can go into a spell. Notice that I said can. There are no set and steadfast ingredients. Yes there are certain things that compliment your intent in a love spell, business spell, etc., but the absolute most important ingredient in a spell is ... YOU. Yes, you. Your intent, your focus, your faith, your belief, that what you are doing is real, and actually works. The extra ingredients just help things along. They add their energy to yours to help bring about what you want in a stronger way than if you did things just by yourself.

Different kinds of ingredients include things like color, herbs, crystals and gemstones, different kinds of salts, powders, and oils, candles, incense, and even days, and times of day. It's a good idea to study these different correspondences. Magickal reference books come in super handy for that reason. A lot of beginners books will cover certain correspondences and if you don't want to have to dig through each page to try and find what you need, it's a good idea to write down those correspondences and keep them in a journal, binder, etc. so that you have a reference guide right at hand. You can buy spell books to study the makeup of spells, and even use those spells for yourself. Look for things called Grimoires and Books of Shadows. We'll go over more on spells tomorrow. For your homework this go around, write down what spells interest you the most and why. If you already have your own spells, what is your favorite spell, and why.