Practical Magic

So what happens when you get ready to do a spell and you're missing an ingredient? What do you do? You've waited all month for the right moon phase, you've driven miles to pick up the right herbs, but still one small piece is missing. Do you give up and wait for next month?

I say no! I say really the items that we pick up and put into our spells are just reminders of what we expect the spell to do. We want to bring money, we light a green candle. We want to ignite passion, we burn a red. What do these colors do exactly for our spell? How do they make or break the spell?

(Image Credit)



Yes, lots of questions on an early Monday morning. I like to consider my magic, practical magic. No I'm not dancing around the table with Sandra Bullock singing Day-O. What I am doing is taking advantage of what gifts the Goddess has seen to deliver to me.

I've taken the acorn and added it to my magic. I've taken the fine pecan wand and used that instead of oak. I've collected the gifts of nature around me and applied that to my magic instead of hunting the world for "Eye of Nuit".

Magic is less about the physical ingredients and more about the way you use them. What good does it do to have all the right spell components and your brain is full of negativity from the day? What does that do to your spell?

(Image Credit)


We plan and place items on our altars in a certain way to prepare our mind for magic. We dress or undress as the case may be in order to bring us into a magical frame of mind. We open our minds to the Goddess and our energies are taken out of us and delivered to our desired result. WE are the MAGIC.

And consider this for a second. How is a magical ritual different from that of a Christian Prayer, or a Buddhist Chant? How does the energy I put into my altar differ from that energy healing of the Chakra?


The answer is quite frankly it's not different. It's the same. It doesn't matter if my words are directed at the Goddess or at Jesus Christ. It's the same energy, the same magic. Well, Practically.



Namaste & Blessed Be

Sosanna
)O(

8 comments

Snowy said...

Preach it sister! In the end, I think Rosemary Buckland described it best: "If it works, use it".

Intent, visualization, and minding the Witch's Pyramid (To Know, To Dare, To Will and To Be Silent) are the most powerful components of your spellwork.

Sosanna said...

Thanks for your comment Snowy! I appreciate it! :)

Hailey Marie said...

Great post, Sosanna. One of my favorite fantasy novels uses the concept of "The Will and the Word" when referring to the magic the sorcerers perform. The concept of magick seems fairly similar, and comes from the power and energy you pull from yourself, not so much the ingredients you pile in the cauldron. =)

Anonymous said...

Very well put i couldnt agree more myself!

Sosanna said...

Agree completely Hailey. All those ingredients in the pot, would be just that... ingredients w/o the energies that we put in there along with it. Thanks for your comment!

Sosanna said...

Thanks for comment Jess, and your note on FB. I look forward to your input on my posts.

Morgan Drake Eckstein said...

"We will now burn this mugwort, pretending to be whatever herb that we are missing."

Rootweaver said...

Fabulous reminder, thanks! Intuition is an ingredient too, after-all! This is also my favourite way to Spellcraft and exactly what I used to teach participants of my workshops.