By Allen Cheng Living in a world that is constantly changing, it’s always important to stay in touch with the latest trends. Here’s one that has come into vogue recently and is more popular than ever – Magic. With so many fairy tales and enchanting stories around, it’s not unusual to dream about dueling with Dumbledore while Frodo and Merlin watch. The term “magic” occurs almost everywhere: fantasy literature, temples, and in almost every online game. When hearing the word magic most people assume that it’s just a realm of fiction and fantasy. This article, however, concerns practical magic or more precisely, magick) performed by actual witches in the real world. After hearing about the history of magic and the life of witches, may the doors of the mystical world be open to you! Magick with a“K” Magic doesn’t have to be an abstract concept, yet the magic we see most of the time, performed by magicians, is actually what we call “magic tricks.” There are, however, people in the world who deal with the true essence of magic. When pagans (a synonym for “witch”) refer to practical magic, the kind that meddles with mystical forces, they use the word “Magick.” Witches, wiccans, and warlocks, though spelled differently all generally refer to Magick practitioners. Witches commonly form a convent or group of witches led by a High Priestess. Most witches record their spells, potions, rituals, and ethics (such as the Wiccan Creed) in a specific spellbook – a “Book of Shadows” or a “Grimoire.” Witches go by the rule “And ye harm none, do what ye will,” yet there are those that worship demonic and dark forces, so it would be best to not mess with powerful pagans. Which Witch is Witch? Witches worship different Gods and have different beliefs, and what sort of magic they’re good at also varies. In many Pagan theories, different spells require mystical energy drawn from different Gods, and, as mentioned before, there are different kinds of witches: Green witch: When a witch is more attached to nature she’s called a Green witch. She excels in healing spells and has a special love for the plants and trees of the earth, and is often gifted in working as a gardener, herbalist, artist, or teacher. Dark witch: These consider themselves as “Children of Darkness,“ for they receive powers as ambassadors and extensions of the Queen of Darkness, the soul of the black earth. Hecate- "Queen of Ghosts”: A goddess of the wilderness and childbirth. As a Queen, she represents femininity in spellcraft. Diana: The goddess of the hunt, in literature the equivalent of the Greek goddess Artemis. Her powers are useful in love spells. Witch Way around the Year Being a witch isn’t just chanting, dancing, and casting spells. Becoming a witch means a total change in lifestyle, not only having to accommodate a whole new religious belief and a seemingly twisted perspective on everything, but also learning to go through a year in a very different way. Take a look at some wiccan festivals in a Witch’s year: Imbolc (February 1-2): when new life appears and the days start to get longer. White is the color. This is the time to plan and make first steps towards realizing projects. The magic is to cleanse and to bring about the new. Spring Equinox (March 20-21): the time for newness and beginnings, like sowing seeds. The color is green and the magic is about material beginning. Beltane (April 30-May 1): a time of fertility, when sexual energy comes to the fore. This is the time of the Goddess. The colors are green, white, and pink. The magic is unashamedly sexual and about both enjoyment and reproduction. Autumn Equinox (September 22-23): a spiritual time, an inner world time. The inner world is of the mind. We start to think. Altars should contain antlers, apples, fallen leaves, and pine cones. Magical powers can be developed, however, as they are developed in the mind. Yule (December 21-22): the Winter Solstice, a risky, dangerous time. There are many colors: black but also white and gold and red and green. The magic is about celebrating, about the health of children and early hopes of conceiving. Hocus Pocus while you Focus Now, let’s mosey into some actual witchcraft. One of the most enchanting parts of magick is the power of spells. Spellcraft is known mostly by the extraordinary repercussions it can cause, sometimes with mere words. The actual essence of spells is concentration. Wiccans believe that thoughts themselves can cause changes, and ergo the birth of spells. The language of a spell can vary yet still cause the same effect, since in theory the language is only a means of enhancing concentration. Witches also conjure spirits or Gods from other planes to perfect their spells, which often include tributes of all sorts. Here are some simple common spells for fun. Try to concentrate and do some magick! ****Levitation spell**** Ingredients: 1) 4 white candles 2) A quiet place at dawn 3) 1 featherPlace the candles in a circle, North, South, East, and West. Place the feather in your non-dominant hand (the one you don’t write with), feel its force, its gift of lightness. Start in the East and work clockwise. Enter the circle and sit in a comfortable position. Facing North, chant the following words nine times: “In the light I see, in the dark I am blind. In the world I walk in the circle I fly.” Now clear your mind, feel the feather float in your mind, then feel the feather float in your open hand and lift with it. Then you shall levitate. ****To Accelerate Time**** Ingredients: 1) 3 white candles 2) Rose petals Light the candles and put them in a circle marked out by rose petals. Chant the following spell repeatedly until the candles are blown out. “Winds of Time, gather round. Give me wings to speed my way. Rush me on my journey forward. Let tomorrow be today.” There is also a category of spells that are meant to do harm. We call them “hexes” or “curses” but will not include them in this story. Hexes, curses, and resurrections are black magick, which backfire all the time. Take curses for instance. There is a “principle of three”; that is, the harm you deal to others might take its toll on you with three times more damage! Fire burn and Cauldron Bubble When it comes to magick we certainly can’t leave out potions. Potions actually are scientific and not mystical. Yet some advanced potions still require drawing energy from gods, so it’s still magick. ****Potion for Youth Preservation**** To create a potion to feel young and full of spirit, combine the following ingredients in a bottle. 1. fresh homemade apple juice. 2. cider that has been made for more than seven days 3. apple vinegar 4. clear apple brandy 5. honey 6. a drop of wintergreen As you are sealing the bottle, chant the following: “Apple’s flesh be mine. Forever preserved in time, as I say in kind.” Seal the bottle and carry it with you always. Magic before Civilization Most magick nowadays contains either the utterance of words or the summoning of Gods. Yet magick existed long before civilization. Its simplest form is raw power, as in telekinesis, telepathy, and foreseeing the future. Telekinesis in particular, the ability to move things by thought, has occurred in many places and has been practiced by many people. The whole process can take from a few days to many months. Here’s a telekinesis “how to”:
Before you try to do TK it’s very important to have your mind clear. But exactly how do you do this? Meditation. Sit down, take few deep breaths. Don’t control your eyes; allow them to lose their focus. With some practice you’ll just forget about everything around you and lose yourself. Your breathing will become deeper and your mind will clear. Having prepared yourself for practicing you’ll need to prepare the proper instrument to practice with: aluminum foil on a pin. Take a small piece of aluminum foil and place it on the top of an upside-down pin and balance it. This is what we call a psiwheel. Remember: there is no separation between you and the psiwheel. Focus on the psiwheel and feel its presence. When you have a good, stable, strong feeling of the psiwheel, then you have established an energy link. At this point you might notice a strong feeling of power over the psiwheel, which might even cause random reactions from your body. For example you try to move the psiwheel with your mind and suddenly your hand moves forward. When these random movements happen just try to relax and to “sense” the object better. With TK the psiwheel will start to spin and you’ll know you’re moving it. What Science Doesn’t Tell You Many despise witches since “Magic doesn’t make sense at all.” But there are many things that don’t make sense. Many mystical events are happening all the time, and while we don’t have to like witchcraft or to practice it, under the current circumstances wouldn’t it be better to keep an open mind? a
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May 2024
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