Ex Penna

The use of magical seals goes back to at least the 1700's, with simpler examples extending back much further.  Stylized and decorative, seals force the viewer to imagine its purpose more than recognize it.  If I drew a heart shape and put my beloved's name inside it, anyone picking it up (including my target!  Eeep!) would know my intention.  Instead, by using a seal (and possibly adding only the target's initials), a viewer might assume the image has magical importance, see the attention given to perfecting the figure in detail, and find a mysterious value that either brings them to a state of curiosity, fear, or both, but they will not know what it does.  That, to me, makes the magic of the seal a form which no practitioner should ever be without.

Now, you may be wondering, how the hell you're going to make a shortcut out of something that is already widely available and public domain such as magical seals. 

(Psst!  If you weren't aware of that fact, here are some links to get you started:)


Raphael's Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic

The Lesser Key of Solomon

The Book of Ceremonial Magic




The real trick lies in your preparedness.  Sort through all available seals, talismans, and sigils--yes, this will take a long time--and decide the ones you're most likely to need at a moment's notice.  I keep a selection of seals in my travel kit, drawn on squares of colored papers that relate to the purpose of the seal.  This not only helps me to choose what I need faster but it also adds another layer of correspondence to a spell.

You may choose to draw your seals on any kind of paper, or you can paint them onto wooden discs or flat stones; choose whatever works best for you.  Take some Full Moon time to draw out all the seals you're likely to use.  Put a lot of care into it; though you won't be impregnating them with a purpose just yet, you do want them as accurate and perfect as you can make them.  Remember that they will someday help you out of many a tight jam.

So how do we use these pretty little scribbles?  Because you made them ahead of time, the only time you'll be doing empowering is in your moment of need.  This actually helps a lot because it is at that time that you have the most intent focus on the problem, as well as the clearest view of its solution. 

When using your seal, press it between your hands and focus on what you need it to do.  Visualize the image of it covering the whole problem as it is suddenly turned in your favor.  For larger issues, or those more desperate, take about 10 minutes to build up your internal fire through either physically exhausting exercise (the more overwhelming, the better) or sexual excitement.  When you simply cannot go on a moment longer, grab the seal and focus on it as you completely collapse.  Pour all that concentrated force into the image.  This is the standard way to fuel a newly made sigil, so using it for a seal which has hundreds of years of practitioners' use behind it will make it incredibly strong.

When you are done with either method, carry or place the seal as is appropriate and take comfort in knowing that your prior planning (and your friend, Quill, of course!) has saved the day again.

Know Your Clientele

In business, this could not be more important.  Not only does your customer want to feel like you care, but you really do have to understand their needs if you're going to stay in business.  In a highly personal arrangement such as pro spellcasting, you will have to show calm, discretion, professionalism, and knowledge.  Then just listen to them explain the problem and pick out the places where magic can work to its fullest.

I've noted many times that the two most requested spells I get are love spells and curses.  That's what I know to be true of my area and my clients; you own may be different.  Find out!  Before you begin, ask people you trust what they would consider their number one concern at the moment.  Ask co-workers and other acquaintances in a light-hearted way what they would ask for if, say, a genie was to grant them one wish.  Write all this down.

When you feel that you know the kind of magic your clients will request, start accounting for other factors such as age and gender.  Find out what kinds of "witchy" things they find most interesting in general (for me, it's candles) and which are scary to outsiders (anything with blood!).  This may not sound important, but all these things can be a factor in making you and your offerings appealing.



Stock Up on Ready-Made Magic

People don't like handing over money with no guarantee of a return on that investment.  Online shopping is popular today but it would be far less so if shoppers didn't get receipts, tracking numbers, and contact information with the Better Business Bureau! 

But remember that a witch's customers are often without that luxury.  I am proud to say that I have an unblemished reputation with Quill's Occult Supply for shipping promptly, securely, and with all pecautions taken to ensure that your pakage arrives safely. 



Be Ready to Speak Some Harsh Truths

You don't believe in casting love spells?  You will have to say so.  Heard all you can stand and are not interested in helping?  Speak up immeditely.  Is the problem actually the client's fault?  Don't mince words. 

As a person of wisdom, part of what clients will come seeking is a different level of honesty than they can get in the outside world.  While they may think they're ready--or perhaps that you'll only dig into the shortcomings of others and not their own--they won't actually be thrilled to hear you talk about certain things.  You can frame your thoughts any way you like but sooner or later,  you will have to just say what they don't want to hear.   Be firm and don't let them change your mind.

This is especially important if you do tarot readings as part of consultations.  Some clients love to try and rewrite history, but you can't let them.  Learn straightforward methods for handling confrontation and use it every time this sort of thing comes up.  To retain your standing, you must never submit to being pushed around.



Know Your Style

This is your business--make it your own!  It's good not only for your comfort but for the customer's too to be able to recognize a bit of the type of person you are in your advertising, your working hours, the clothes you wear, the space you use for consultations, the types of items they receive, the divination tools you use, the types of spells you cast, etc.  Show them a little of your personality in everything. 

Here we have the essence of brand building.  When you have a strong brand, customers recognize your name and have a feeling associated with it and with your work.  No business, large or small, could ask for more than that.



Get a Handle on Confrontation

I've heard my share of complaints that I charge cash for my work.  When I offer a barter arrangement instead, I've been accused of being cheap.  Either way, my honor was being challenged and the one doing it only did so to either unnerve me, get something for free, or both. 

Be forewarned: you might have to speak sharply to those who approach you about your business.  Know what you're about before they even twitch their lips, and you'll do fine.  What's your stance on magic as an evil enterprise by the devil?  How about being called a fraud?  What would be your response to cold laughter when someone spies your advertisement?  Can you handle it?  Do you know what you'll say and when to say it?  If not, take some time right now to consider this very important issue.

It's been my experience that a witch is in the business of creating change, not making converts, so feel free to completely ignore all attitudes and comments meant to force you into defnding your practice.  Naturally, no one makes a piano teacher or baseball coach produce a free pile of evidence before engaging them for their services; the same should be said of the professional caster.  Be honest and straightforward with potential clients, note what you can and cannot accomplish for them, and then allow them to make their decision. 

This is where you are at your liberty to shut down conversations and tell the individual that neither they nor their disrespect are welcome to your business.  Be calm, polite, and firm; with this to arm you, no one can say they were treated badly, only that they behaved badly.

Of course, all of this might completly go against the way you handle confrontation.  Do what feels natural to you and what respects your practice.  Just remember that you are a business and you will be expected to act like a professional.  Do your best to decide ahead of time just what that looks like.





With this brief list to guide you, I am confident that you will quickly build a firm foudation upon which you can arrange your professional magical practice.  I suggest keeping a notebook for writing down questions and concerns as they come, and entering the answers as soon as they are discovered. 

Talking to other casters is a great source of such information and this is especially easy online.  Check witchcraft based social media or local organizations and pose your questions to anyone who seems able to help.  Doing so will prevent you from suffering from the same troubles and setbacks that so many of us have endured on our way to a thriving business in the ever changing, ever desirable world of professional practical magic.





Images from:

"A Visit to the Witch" Edward Frederick Brewtnall (British, 1846-1902).
http://professionalspellcasters.com/magic-ingredients-for-authentic-spells.html

Parentingbythelightofthemoon.blogspot.ca

You can make a very helpful magical oil with just a few ingredients from your kitchen cupboard!  So let's get into the kitchen and get cracking!

While there are several ways to make this oil, what I offer here is the one I use: 

Flying Devil Oil

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