A Witch's World of Magick (2 page)

You’ll also find in each chapter a customizable spell to try along with other ideas for applying each magickal principle in a modern context. Each chapter also contains a section titled “Common Threads and New Perspectives,” included to draw attention to significant commonalities in theory and technique applied by magick workers around the world. As you examine these common threads, do so with a critical mind and an inquisitive heart. I may very well be off about some things; you should trust in your intuition, judgment, and powers of reason to form your own best theories. Theories are meant to evolve, after all, and while I certainly might have some of the answers, you most certainly have some of the answers, too. Only by trying our best both collectively and individually to make sense of where we are and where we’ve been, only then will we take our worldwide magickal society to greater heights where truly bold, miraculous, magick is a matter of course and a way of life. By examining together a compendium of magickal techniques from around the world and identifying the universal theories therein apparent, we can discover the secrets for unlocking the full potentials of our magick. To make it happen, there’s only one thing we need to do: think.

Points to Ponder

These questions are included to help inspire new ideas that extend beyond the scope of each chapter. Come up with your best answers, then revisit these questions when you finish reading the book. It’s interesting to see which of our answers evolve, and which ones stay the same.

• Do you see magick in any everyday, commonplace activities or in any aspects or elements of mainstream society?
  
• What
  is
  magick exactly, to you? What defines it as such?
  
• What do you feel is the best way humankind can “make good” on the gift of magick?
  
• In what ways can learning the magickal methods of others benefit your own practice?
  
• Have you ever noticed any commonalities in the methods and beliefs displayed in the wide variety of magickal practices employed throughout the world? Do you have any hunches regarding such “universal principles” of magick?
  

[contents]

1.
“Big Religion Chart,” Religious Facts, accessed February 10, 2013, http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm.

2.
“Superstitions: Why You Believe,” CBS News Sunday Morning, accessed February 8, 2013, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57541783/superstitions-why-you-believe/.

3.
“Big Religion Chart,” Religious Facts, accessed February 10, 2013, http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm.

4.
Brian Handwerk, “‘Python Cave’ Reveals Oldest Human Ritual, Scientists Suggest,”
National Geographic News
, December 22, 2006, accessed August 1, 2012, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061222-python-ritual.html.

One

No-Tools Body Magick

M
uch magick is accomplished with the mind alone. Emotionally charged thoughts—our intentions unleashed with will, carried by love in the pursuit of our ever-rising destinies: at its heart, this is what magick truly is. Successful spellcasting is not so much in the wave of the wand as it is in the mental process of the magick worker, the internal component of the spell that doesn’t require special stones, candles, or other tools and trappings in order to operate. If there’s a malfunction of the internal no-tools component, the magick as a whole will fail, regardless of the quality of herbs, crystals, wands, and other elements that might also be employed. Basically, if you can’t make magick
without
tools, you can’t make magick
with
tools, either. This might sound like a basic concept—and it is, on the surface. When we dig deeper, however, and get to the core truths of simplistic, no-tools magick, we find that herein lies the solution to many of our magickal shortcomings. By mastering and remastering the basics, we come to understand (or in many cases, simply remember!) the scope of our powers and abilities, and we gain a sense of magickal independence and skill that doesn’t rely on any special preparations or extras. This liberation makes possible more spontaneous and more frequent spellcasting, which has the potential to make our world a better, more conscious, more aware, and more peaceful place.

While the tools and trappings of magick have specific applications that can be very effective, it’s important to understand that what makes these magickal accessories work can be accessed at any time and requires no special equipment to “make it go.” Ever heard of the “web of life” concept? This is the philosophy of all things everywhere being interconnected, linked through a common thread that courses throughout the wide, wild world. This “web” is the magickal circuitry on which our spells travel, the link that enables us to act in the here and now in a way that affects the there and later, and all magick relies on it. In order for a spell to work, the witch must be able to find and willing to travel the road between how things are and how she wants them to be. By forging and utilizing associations, making connections between ideas and energies, we are able to manipulate reality and bend it more in line with our will.

Understanding exactly what it takes to work magick with just the body, mind, and soul and mastering these essentials builds our abilities to design and cast spells that do what they’re intended to do, with or without any herbs, stones, candles, or other extras. In this chapter, we’ll explore some ways to make magickal connections using nothing but yourself alone.

No-Tools Body Magick Around the World

Both intentional and accidental spellcasters around the world have carried out magick with the very simplest of actions: a word, a thought, a glance, a slight yet deliberate motion. Magick cast without tools or props can indeed have profound effects and be just as powerful as a complex spell requiring multiple tools and rare ingredients. Here are some examples of how the magickal process is carried out by different practitioners around the globe, without wands, without potions, without anything at all except a body with feelings, ideas, and intentions.

It’s All in the Eyes

The notorious “evil eye” is perhaps one of the most widespread and well-known examples of no-tools body magick. Evil or ill intentions are literally cast through a single look, causing hardship and sickness to the one inflicted. A belief in the evil eye is common in cultures throughout the Middle East, West Africa, parts of Asia, Central America, Mexico, the US, and Europe.

The
Æthiopica
, a Greek literary work dating from the third century CE, makes reference to the evil eye and does well to describe the manner in which the evil eye operates. Attributed to Heliodorus, the
Æthiopica
is a work of fiction, an early example of the adventure novel that nevertheless conveys some of the truths and popular perceptions of the day. The passage that follows is a conversation about a girl afflicted with the evil eye:

“Tell me, my good Calasiris, what is the malady that has attacked your daughter?”

“You ought not to be surprised,” I replied, “if at the time when she was heading the procession in the sight of so vast an assemblage of people, she had drawn upon herself some envious eye.”

Whereupon, smiling ironically, “Do you then,” asked he, “like the vulgar in general, believe in the reality of such fascination?”

“As much as I do in any other fact,” I replied, “and the thing is this: the air which surrounds us passing through the eyes, as it were through a strainer, and also through the mouth, the teeth and the other passages, into the inward parts, whilst its external properties make their way in together with it—whatever be its quality as it flows in, of the same nature is the effect it disseminates in the recipient, so that when any one looks upon beauty with envy, he fills the circumambient air with a malignant property, and diffuses upon his neighbour the breath issuing from himself, all impregnated with bitterness, and this, being as it is of a most subtile nature, penetrates through into the very bone and marrow. Hence envy has frequently turned itself into a regular disease, and has received the distinctive appellation of fascination
.
”
⁵

This example conveys the notion that the evil eye is cast through envy, a belief common in many places where “the Eye” is feared. We also see here implied that the evil eye can be cast accidentally. The scene of the crime is described in a benign way that seems to indicate that such envious feelings, and the evil eye curse that often results, were a known risk and par for the course when a lady of such beauty parades her attractive personage in front of a large gathering. The crowd can’t help but be envious, and even though they’re not intending to harm or hex the girl, the simple expedient of emotionally charged energy poured forth from the eyes is enough to make the magick.

Many people in modern Greece still believe in the evil eye, and it’s considered capable of causing issues for both human and non-human alike. People affected by the eye report depression, weakness, sleeplessness, feverishness, headaches, and nausea, while afflicted animals may experience lethargy or infertility. The evil eye is believed capable also of causing crops to fail and machinery to break down.
⁶

In the Americas also, the evil eye was (and still is) very well-known, believed capable of causing injury to both physical form and spiritual body. Along the Rio Grande, a belief in the evil eye was so prevalent that a method for preventing its common spread was devised. A 1923 study of Mexican-Americans in Texas describes a practice used to stop one’s self from inadvertently casting the curse:

It is claimed that the human eye has a magic power over persons or things, and the person exercising this power is said to make Ojo (Eye). Upon seeing a person or thing and admiring that person or thing, one must touch what he has seen and admired, else the person seen will become sick or the object will break. According to the belief, every one is possessed of the power to ‘make Ojo.’
⁷

We see here again the idea that a curse can be cast through a look alone. By a simple projection of feeling, a single blast of emotion sent out through the eyes, a magickal change is affected. What’s more, there are hints here also, as in our example from the Greek
Æthiopica
, that this magick doesn’t even require intention on the part of the spellcaster—everyone can make
el ojo
, and a simple oversight of failing to make physical contact with an admired object or person is enough to set the charm into action. What we can gather from all this is that our eyes are indeed powerful vehicles for delivering magick.

While you probably don’t want to go around cursing folks left and right, the eyes have other magickal applications that are much less sinister. If a person can cast an “evil eye,” for instance, it only follows that a “good eye” can likewise be cast. Allow awareness of your eyes as powerful spellcasting tools to bring more intention and opportunity into your daily dealings.

Just Say the Word

In addition to magick that’s cast through the eyes, there’s also a whole class of magick spells that are cast solely through the power of speech and sound. The human voice resonates with energetic vibrations, sound waves that travel from the mouth to the universe at large, bearing with them the magickal intentions and charged emotions of the speaker. Francis Barrett, in his 1801 work
The Magus
, comments on the connection between magick and words:

Almost all charms are impotent without words, because words are the speech of the speaker, and the image of the thing signified or spoken of; therefore, whatever wonderful effect is intended, let the same be performed with the addition of words significative of the will or desire of the operator; for words are a kind of occult vehicle of the image conceived or begotten, and sent out of the body by the soul; therefore, all the forcible power of the spirit ought to be breathed out with vehemency, and an arduous and intent desire …
⁸

We see in this explanation an assertion that words are nearly as powerful as the intention that comes with them. Words are simply our way of expressing those internal thoughts and images we conjure in the course of our magick, and whether whispered, signed, or yelled out loud, those words are quite potent.

In Slavic cultures, magicians found that words were strong enough vehicles for spellwork to stand on their own without any accompanying rites or rituals. These word charms, called
zagovórui
, were to be spoken out loud or sung. They were considered powerful in their own rite, and no additional ceremony was required to activate them. A collection of Slavic folklore published in 1872 explains: