The collaborative incantation bowl we crafted during our Beltane celebrations is a beautiful blending of my approach to witchcraft. Take what you need from the energy emanating from this bowl, read an excerpt from my upcoming book, Entering Hekate’s Cauldron, and then check out this fabulous conversation Christen and I had with the Covina Torch Bearers about our approach to spellcrafting.
The Witch’s Voice and Spellcrafting
From Entering Hekate’s Cauldron, coming in July from Red Wheel Weiser.
One by one,
The spell’s begun.
Plants, colors, and stones,
Coming together,
Spiraling out.
Two by two,
This spell is true,
Weaving magick throughout.
Three by three,
Great Hekate,
Guide me.
As I speak it,
So it becomes.
All spells begin with an awareness. Something unlocks within us, bringing into our consciousness that there is a problem, challenge, or calling. Coupled with this is the intuitive wisdom that witchcraft can help our efforts to overcome or transform, be it for manifesting the money for an unexpected expenditure or healing from deep trauma. Often driving by emotions, especially distress, we are drawn into the apothecary, called to the cauldron, to craft something that brings relief and change. While we may reach for an existing spell that fits our need, crafting our own will always yield better results. It all begins with a word.
A draft incantation from a Spell of The Year. I talk about crafting them in Cauldron, too.
The Words of The Witch
Surrounded by wonderful tools and beautiful correspondences, the witch holds court in the center. Our voice, be it the careful thought process of developing a spell, our dialogues with Hekate and our allies, the spell spoken aloud or written words, is the most important part of any working. Conversating with our plants, stones, and spirits as we work with them lends power and personalization. Yet words are only one expression of the power we exert through our will, which is also found in the actions and emotions involved in our spells. “Will” is like the power source for our witchery, a mixture of confidence, connection, knowledge, and power. If you’ve ever experienced what’s known as a flow state, those moments when you lose all self-consciousness and you know you are doing exactly what you are meant to be doing, you’ve connected to will. Yet when crafting spells we go beyond a regular state of flow, truly attuning to Hekate and her deeper world. Witchcrafting gives us a voice, true and powerful. In the ancient world, spells calling upon Hekate’s intervention thrum with empowerment, from curse tablets seeking punishment for transgressors to the mythic spells of Medea.
Epithets of Hekate can be connected with as energetic currents, similar to the way the properties of correspondences can be. Entering Hekate’s Cauldron has a complete table of epithets, with over 200.
Creativity is the key to connecting to the deeper world, whether it’s following an established working or intuitive witchery, and it often begins with words, which are complemented by objects that we associate with them. The ancients utilized ingredients that held meaning to them, in very creative ways that summoned the essence of their incantations. While some of their techniques and components may be contrary to our modern practice, the spirit of giving voice through words and creative witchery is inspiring. Correspondences are our contemporary magickal palette, offering up their properties as we rend our intentions to life. Hekate shares her aspects with us, so that we may call upon them as spirits for our spells. Epithets are archetypes, energetic underpinnings for the very essence of the universe. When we evoke them in spells, it is to these archetypes we appeal, as well as Hekate herself.
Often our dialogues with Hekate and our guides are spontaneous, we simply share what is in our heart, and they often give guidance. When we purposefully work with words to evoke specific energies, that is very different. Regarding magick, words themselves can become spells, whether on their own or by combining them, rendering them magickal, known by the Latin, “Voces Magicae.”
Straight Talk About Spellcrafting
We sat down for a real conversation about spellcrafting, from the importance of a refined intention to the magick found only in creativity. Abiding at the crossroads of intuition and systematic knowledge of plants, colors, and energies, and bringing into the circle spirited objects is central to how we do witchcraft. Personal significance and resourcefulness in using everyday items are two of the keys that are so important in our approach. Insights on overcoming perfectionism and trusting intuition in crafting spells are shared, culminating in a recognition of witchcraft's transformative power and our connection to the natural world.