Ex Penna

For both relaxation and inspiration, I share with you today this delightful collection of witchcraft themed images, and each one is a purchasable item on Etsy (*ahem* Quill's was featured in July '15)!  I highly recommend clicking on the Archive and just taking a wander around, gazing and tasting the flood of colorful, evocative, enticing modern magic.  Enjoy!



witch//craft

Ah, the age-old question--does magic really work?  How about all the other questions that inevitably follow?

• If it works, why isn't everyone using it?
  
• If it doesn't why are we still talking about it?
• Who has the authority to say what's real and what isn't?

Let's go through this one at a time.

Is Magic Real?

Yes, emphatically, yes!  I've been using magic for almost 20 years but it hasn't taken me this long to be certain.  I knew the first time that an unlikely spell worked.  I knew when I saw results after nearly forgetting about the spell I'd cast the night before.  I knew it when I heard people say, "It was the strangest thing, like magic!" 

If you've had any of these experiences then you too know the truth.  Stop calling it chance, stop saying that you "changed your perception of things" and then everything worked out, stop handing your power over to some faceless, nameless Karma energy who gave you what you wanted because of all your good deeds.  My husband is fond of saying that you can only call it coincedence so many times before you face the truth.  I've known practitioners who seem to do this more than they deserve.  Let yourself own the work you've done and the good that came of it.  You made magic and you created change.  That's big and it deserves to be acknowledged. 

Then Why Isn't Everyone Using it?

Good question.  Actually, most people are, but not to their benefit.  That which we focus on gains strength.  When you move through you day with an eye for the bad--the irritating, restricting, defeating people, attitudes, and situations--you will always find them.  Once you find one, you'll know what to look for and see more.  These bits of bad news clutter up your whole perspective until you start to think and act from a mindset of impending unhappiness. 

Bringing into your life the kind of influences you desire to have from then on is a small form of magic.  It needs nothing more than your mind and a clear vision of what you want.  See how easily it can work against you if you're not paying attention?

That's why early magic training requires so many focus exercises.  You don't want to slip into the kind of patterns that bring you things you don't want.  With clear intention and a determined will, a practitioner can make incredible things happen.  Without those allies, it's mostly chaos, frustration, and confusion.  Welcome to the world of the average non-magical person.

Who Can Say What's Real and What's Not?

Here's where you'll hear most people say that no one actually has authority over magic and that your own ideas are the best guide.  I completely disagree.  While we yet have wise and experienced elders among us in the occult, it is best that we not only acknowledge their noteriety but also their superior knowledge.  Truly, anoyone who regularly makes use of their magical talents can tell you if your spells are working or not, but an adept can tell you why, as well as how to increase their speed and potency.

Speaking as a witch with nearly 20 years in the business, I have seen many fantaistic things in my day, some by my own hand and some by other pracittioners I've known.  It is from those experiences--as well as from books and historical artifacts--that I draw my own conclusions on the proof of magic's existence.  Of course, I'm in no way putting my words next to those of an adept, but for what it's worth, here is my view of the matter.

Proving Your Magic

After all the mysticism and flowery language are stripped away, we can come to one cnclusion on magic: it is the work of increasing probability of your desired end.  The further afield you are from that outcome, the harder you must strive, the more you must give.

All you need for any piece of big, obvious, and real magic is:

1. a clear goal
2. adequate fuel
3. the fortitude to connect the two

Beginners often trip up on the first part, while the more experienced have troubles with the last, but all parts are essential. If you're having trouble visualizing this, consider these instructions as a list of "don'ts":

1. Don't seek "general" anything; cast specific spells for specific results. 
2. Don't do the quickie spell when you have time for the more elaborate. 
3. Don't request, demand.

To this end, here's 3 ideas for the kind of spells with results that can be quickly seen.  You can either use a spell for the same outcome from your own collection, elaborate upon mine, or use them as-is.  Remember that whatever you cast has to have a large payload of energy, so if you're going to use them unvarnished, you'll need to build up all the energy within yourself.  If you add other elements to it--colors, herbs, candles, stones, formulas, sigils, etc.--you can use their power to suppliment your own.
    

Rain Spell

Pour out a pitcher of water over your hands.  Flick water over your head with your wet fingers and say:

To Find Lost Objects

To Confuse Someone

It has been nearly 20 years since I opened my first spellbook and in the intervening time, I've picked
up a few choice pieces of advice and I have compiled them here, in the simplest words, for your illumination.  Some of what I felt very strongly about in the early years have faded with time, others are only now growing bold.  Some of these lessons are a bit of wormwood, others are more honey.  

Naturally, I'm aware that there is nothing in the world so coveted as good advice, nor anything so quickly ignored.  So do with this what you will, only don't bother me with abstract philosophy or rules of a tradition.  All of these thoughts I have not only contemplated but have lived.


1.  Don't buy tools based on a good story.

2.  Don't speak ill of other practices purely because they're different.  We are, before anything else, a community.

3.  Other practitioners' identities are their own secret, even if they are open about it.  Don't give out information about others to outsiders.

4. Test all magical rules for yourself.

5.  Don't brag about work that hasn't manifested yet.

6.  Don't bring up in an argument the help you've given others.  It's tacky and makes you look weak.

7.  Keep the best records you can; you will forget the details.

8.  Make your Book of Shadows your own unique creation.  You'll want to look back on it in the years to come, so don't bore your future self.

9.  Spellcasters are allowed to cast whatever spells they wish.  No one has to consult you or your beliefs.

10. If things are going wrong for you--uncross.  Even if you don't have a bunch of enemies, even if you haven't wronged anyone lately, even if you don't think you're cursed, uncross.  Never wait!

11. Don't badmouth an initiation after it's over.  That is the way it happened and it was perfect in the initiate's mind.

12. Assume that at least some of the other practitioerns you meet might cast against you.  This is real.  Sometimes you desere it, sometimes not.  Protect yourself. 

13. Never dress up the truth for your BoS.

14. Have interesting topics ready to talk about before you meet other practitioners for the first time.  There's nothing worse than neding up with a bore (or being a bore) after the excitement of fresh potential.

15. Carry one form of divination on your person at all times.  It doesn't matter what it is; you will need it.

16. Keep group records.

17. Take photos of you and others doing magic.  Take coven photos.

18. You only need one really great or expensive tool.  Don't bother shelling out for more.

19. Remember your failures as well as your successes.

20. Relax about Karma.  Westerners have it wrong and magic-users have it really wrong.

21. When you sell, sell properly.  Offer high quality goods and spells at a fair price.  Don't be talked into giving magic away for free (or dirt cheap) against your will. 

22. Buy from reputible sellers.  Don't skimp if it's important or you need it to last.

23. Feed your covenmates.  Always bring food to a ritual or meeting, always provide food at your own.

24. Know who you're summoning.  Spirits, Gods, demons--they're not archetypes, their individuals.  Pronounce their names right, know their favorite things.

25. Don't wear trashy clothes to rituals and meetings.  That applies to pajama pants, comedy tee shirts, or branded caps.  Grow up, guys.

26. Always have a reason why for your work; take time to understand those of others.  Even those casting horrible curses are often honorable people with good reasons.

27. Be respectful to elders, authors, and anyone bearing a title (even if you doubt its merit).  It's likely they have been places you only dream of.

28. Use the name a person gives you upon introduction, even if you know their "street name" from some other association, even if they call themselves "Moonflower WhisperWind."

29.  Don't leave things behind when you're done with an outdoor ritual or spellcasting.  Pick up everything, even your wax drips.  You're no litterbug and, no, people won't see it and think something intriguing has been going on. 

30. Don't share coven business or coven problems with non-members.

31. Carry yourself with pride but be equally ready to laugh at yourself.

32. Don't waste your time in the company of other practitioners by badmouthing other religious views or "normal" people. 

33. Settle community disputes as quickly as possible.  There's already not a lot holding us together.

34. No one ever regrets putting too much info into their BoS, too much energy into a spell, or too much planning into an event.  Give it your all for everything, every time.

35. Magic needs more beautiful things.  Don't simplify--beautify.

36. Some of the stuff in magical shops is just rebranded junk; freebie spells are the same.  Choose whom you trust with care.

37. Always have a plan for what's next.  If you do this, you will continue to grow wiser, more indistrious, more successful, more experienced, and more fulfilled.






Image from:

"The Truth" by Jules Joseph Lefebvre 1870

I've been one busy lady lately, what with comic book illustrating, another possible new venture in art, manuscript writing and editing, my Etsy shop, and a long stretch at my regular job.  So in lieu of my own tips this week, I found for you a trove of tips from witches around the world!  What could be more fun than sitting back, flipping through colorful photos, and learning soemthing new?  Enjoy!


Witch Tips on Tumblr

13 Tips for Being the Best Witch You Can Be

Magical Tips on Pinterest

That's right, I had to read it twice too, but it's for real--the Free Herbalism Project is an organization dedicated to sharing and spreading knowledge of our wild plant heritage through free events, seminars, workshops, and more. 

If I sound like I'm gushing, it's because I am!  Not only have I had years of excellent experiences as a customer through the project's host Mountain Rose Herbs, but also (as you all knowby now) I'm a big advocate of wild flowers and herbs, so this speaks directly to my heart.  If you are in or around Eugene, OR this October, you can check out their events live but the rest of us can enjoy a rich podcast online yearound.


The Free Herbalism Project

I've been thinking long and hard lately about many topics that are well worth discussing in print, but have since come to no conclusion how I should go about it.  Too much to say for an article, too little for a full-size manuscript.  What to do?

A free e-book, of course!



I have plans for a series of such little books, each one crammed with information that you need and want, but which is rarely discussed in the magical community.  And because these books are designed to be brief, you can print them out and take them anywhere without spending a fortune on ink and paper!  I'll be giving out copies for subscriptions to this blog (plus shares, reblogs, links, likes, and all that stuff) so that we can stay in touch long after you're done reading it.

The first e-book will be called The Everyday Classical Charm Sampler: New Spells in an Ancient Tongue, a selection of original spoken-magic written in Classical Latin!  And for those of who who don't study language--fear not!--each charm has a clear, phonetic pronunciation key.  They're each brief and arranged in groups with bold titles so you can start using these spells immediately and reference them again quickly.

I have many more tricks up my sleeve, but that is all I'm sharing for now.  (cue the sad face!)  If you have a topic that you'd like to see me add to the collection, let me know! 
 

The following is an excerpt from my as-yet unpublished manuscript, The Master Witch's Cheatbook: Transform Your Spells into Natural, Affordable, Powerful Works of Art, a guide to the gritty, fantastic world of magic for the beyond-beginner spellcaster.  If you enjoy this little snippet, let me hear about it!  Share your thoughts here in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, private message, email, or Etsy.