Writing Spells
*** Just two things I want to say before you read this. First, if your going to work magic, you need to know how to do it. Saying the words and doing the actions isn't going to cut it. You need to know to raise and send out energy and meditate and visulaize in order for your spells to be effective. The second thing I want to say is that I hardly ever work magic. I simply dont have the need to. However, I have done so in my past and this is the process I go by when I would write spells.



Ask any Witch and they will tell you that its best to write your own spells. Why? Because when you take the time to think  about, and write down your specific intentions, it infuses the work with your own magical power and energy. With spells  you write youirself, you dont have to worry about not having all the right ingedients. You get to choose which type of magic  you want to perform, what tools and ingredients you will use, which time of day or week to work, etc. You get free range to  word it how you want as well. You may be thinking that its too complicated to write your own, but this is where this outline comes in. Its ok to get inspired by spells other people have written but you should change and modify them to fit your needs. Throughout this site, there are various correspondences for herbs, colors, oil, gemstones, etc, and you can use these  pages when writing your spells.

The first thing you want to do is think about why you want to do the spell. Is it something that can be handled without magic?  If so, try solving it without having to do a spell, believe me, if it can be done mundanly theres a better chance it will work.

Lets say for example your doing a money spell. You need $100 dollars to pay off a bill. You've tried everything to make that extra $100 - worked extra hours and saved your money, but your still short. So you decide to do a spell. The second thing you need to think about is what type of magic you want to perform. You can do candle magic, herb magic (charms) poppet magic, cord magic, or any other kind you can think of. Out of these four choices, I would say either candle or herb magic would be the best bet for this type of spell. A poppet deals with people, and your not really dealing with people for this spell, and cord magic usually takes a bit longer than the others to work (at least in my experience). Now, you could combine these types if you wish, for example you could incorporate candles and herbs in the spell. Just think about which materials  you like using best. If you like candles, use those, if you like cords and knot magic, use them.

The second thing you want to think about is timing. Some Witches feel that they must work a spell in the exact hour of the exact day in the right phase of the moon. Most dont worry about the exact timing however. If I do magic, I usually just work by the phase of the moon, unless I really need to work magic now, then I do it when I need to. Here is a quick reference of the  moon phases:

WAXING MOON
Time: from new moon to full (approx. 14 days)
Goddess Aspect: Maiden
Associated Goddesses: Artemis, Branwen, Eriu, Nymph, Epona
Magickal Attributes: INVOKING Beginnings, new projects, ideas, inspiriation, energy, vitality, freedom.

FULL MOON
Time: Approx. 14 days after new moon (energy lasts from three days before to three days after actual full moon)
Goddess Aspect: Mother
Associated Goddesses: Danu, Cerridwen, Gaia, Aphrodite, Isis
Magickal Attributes: FRUITION Manifesting goals, nurturing, passion, healing, strength, power.

WANING MOON
Time: From full moon to dark moon (approx.14 days)
Goddess Aspect: Crone
Associated Goddesses: Callieach, Banshee, Hecate, Kali, Morrigan
Magickal Attributes: BANISHING Releasing the old, removing unwanted negative energies, wisdom, psychic ability, scrying, reversing circumstances

If you really want to get specific, you can work the spell on the appropritae day of the week. For example, spells involving  love and passion should be done on a friday, and spells involving  psychic power and emotions would be performed on a monday. Here is the list for the appropriate days:

Monday - White, the Moon, Lunar energy, psychic abilities, dreams, astral work, intuition, family, spirituality, Intuition, Dreams, Psychism, Child Protection, dreams, family, the home, intuition, medicine, spiritual growth.
(Moon)
Tuesday - Red, Strength, courage, energy, anger, independence, action, conflict, athletics, competitions, hunting, legality, logic, physical strength, politics, vitality and war.
  (Mars)
Wednesday - Purple, Creativity, communication, divination, wisdom, addiction, travel, the Arts, Partnerships, education, mystical insight, resourcefulness and self-improvement.
(Mercury)
Thursday - Blue, dedication, endurance, faithfulness, legal matters, loyalty, luck and money matters, Prosperity, generosity, legal matters, growth, Career, Finances, Wealth (Jupiter)
Friday - Green, Love, pleasure, peace, music, marriage, beauty, passion, friendship, fertility (Venus)
Saturday - Black, Banishings, protection, obstacles, the elderly, lost items, freedom, change, death, motivation, reincarnation, understanding and wills (Saturn)
Sunday - Yellow, the sun, Health, prosperity, power, joy, leadership, individuality, healing, hope, Success, Family, Sibling Relationships, Career, Divine Power, Learning, Authority  (Sun)
When we do magic, we do it on a day that correspondes to the purpose of our magic. Below is a list of the days of the week and the appropriate matters to be dealt with when doing magic.

Once you have decided on the right timing, you should decide where the spell is going to be performed. Obviously if the spell  involves nature, it should be done outside somewhere. Maybe you prefer working outside anyway, you could just do all your magic work outside. If privacy is an issue, then it may be best to work inside. That also goes with the weather - if its snowing, cold or raining, working outside probably isn't an option. The type of spell and the location could be something you think about together, for example, if you want to bury something in the groumd so that the earth will work the magic, or send something down a creek or stream, or throw herbs, feathers, seeds, etc into the wind, then you will probably want to work outside. Likewise if you want to burn something, or throw something into a fire, you will want to work outside ( believe me, working with fire in the house if dangerous! I once had a small fire in my cauldron and it got out of hand).

Now that you know where its going to be performed you will want to think of the tools and objects used. If your doing candle magic, you obviously willw ant to use candles. But what color should you use? Well, lets go back to the money spell example. The color candle you will want to use will be green or gold, as those colors correspond to money and wealth.  Here is a list of more colors you can use:

RED - Maintaining health; bodily strength; physical energy; sex; passion; courage; protection, and defensive magic. This color is the element of Fire.

PINK - Love; friendship; compassion relaxation. Pink candles can be burned during rituals designed to improve self-love. They're ideal for weddings and for all forms of emotional union. 

ORANGE - Attraction, energy, increasing personal physical energy. Burn to attract specific influences or objects.

YELLOW - Intellect; confidence; divination; communication; eloquence; travel; movement. Yellow is the color of the element of Air. Burn yellow candles during rituals designed to heighten your visualization abilities. Before studying for any purpose, program a yellow candle to stimulate your conscious mind. Light the candle and let it burn while you study. If you are in the performing arts, yellow is a great color to burn before each event. 

GREEN - Money; prosperity; employment; fertility; healing; growth; abundance. Green is the color of the element of Earth. Burn when looking for a job or seeking a needed raise. 

BLUE - Healing; peace; patience; psychic realm, happiness. Blue is the color of the element of Water. Blue is also used in the realm of sleep and of twilight. If you have trouble sleeping, charge a small blue candle with the visualization of yourself sleeping through the night. Burn it a few moments before you get into bed, then extinguish its flame. Blue candles can also be charged and burned to awaken the psychic mind.

PURPLE - Power; healing severe diseases; spirituality; meditation; religion. Purple candles can be burned to enhance all spiritual activities, to increase your magical power, and as a part of intense healing rituals, in combination with blue candles. 

WHITE - Protection; purification; all purposes. White contains all colors. It's linked with the Moon. White candles are specifically burned during purification and protection rituals. If you're to keep but one candle on hand for magical purposes, choose a white one. Before use, charge it with personal per and it will work for all positive purposes.

BLACK - Banishing negativity, absorbing negativity, transition; the ending of something that is the beginning of something else. Black is the absence of color. In magic, it's also representative of outer space. Despite what you may have heard, black candles are burned for positive purposes, such as casting out baneful energies or to absorb illness and nasty habits.

BROWN - Burned for spells invoking animals, usually in combination with other colors. A brown candle and a red candle for animal protection; brown and blue for healing, and so on

If you are using herbs (for a charm), you will need the right ones. For the money spell, we could use mint, dill, and basil because those are good money herbs. You will also need the right color cloth for the charm bag. If you are using any stones or crystals you will want to see which ones corresponde to your intent. See the gems and crystal page for a list of good ones to use.

To see which herbs can be used for different types of magic, check out the Herbal Grimoire.

Ok, now you have your type of magic, location, and objects (including specific colors, herbs, gems, etc). At this point I would write everything down so you can remember. You will also want to make a list of the supplies you need so you can either buy them, or if you already have them, get them ready for the spell. The great thing about writing your own spells is that you get to use the objects you already have. You may have only a few different herbs and candles, so write your spells to correspond to what you have.

Now, think about which dieties you want to use. Maybe you only work with one set, and you call them Great Goddess and Great God, or somthing like that. You dont need specific names, but sometimes that helps people visualize the goal better if they think a specific God or Goddess is present to lend a helping hand in an area they correspond with.

*A note on using different dieties. If your going to call on Athena or Bast, or maybe Cernunnos, make sure you do some research on who they were, the popular myths associated to them, which part of the world they came from and so on. Its not only disrespectful not to, its just plain stupid. It only makes sense to know which God/Goddess your calling on during a spell or ritual. So many times I hear people saying that their patron Goddess is Hecate or The Morrigaine, but they really dont know who they are, they just think they're cool. Diety symbols are powerful, especialy those two, and sometimes people get caught up with trying to look cool and powerful that they dont realize what their chosen diety really symbolizes. You wouldn't use Aphrodite in a money spell, or Yemaya in a spell for bravery and power. You use the diety who corerespondes to what your trying to do.
This is a quote I found by the author Lilith McLelland. This is exactly what I feel about using dieties who are very powerful and are god's of war and justice, death, etc

"The best advice I ever received was from the Goddesses Kali and Hecate, to whom I had gone in desperation and who said, 'Lighten up!' and accompanied that advice with a severe smack upside the head and a long and painful rearrangement of my life. The best advice I have for teen Wiccans is to NOT go to either of those goddesses. I see teens attempting to impress others by invoking them, or bragging that they're their 'patron goddesses,' when in fact Hecate and Kali are very unforgiving. If you play, you will pay." -Lilith McLelland

This doesn't just apply to teens, lots of peopls use these kinds of dieties and they have no clue what they are about. So, make sure you know what your diety stands for and make sure its appropriate.

With that said, lets move on.

Now is the time to write any invocations, prayers, meditations and other dialogue for the spell. Obviously your going to say something during the spell. Something most spells have common is a specific saying or purpose thats stated. You want to say what the spell is for and how its going to work. For example, lets say your writing something for that money spell. Your outside and you decide your going to use candle magic. In the spell, as the candle burns, the faster money comes your way.  You could say " As this candle, blessed by the Great Goddess, burns so shall the debt I am in." It can be as simple as that. Some people like to write long saying and chants for their spells, but I prefere to be more simple. Another thing to do is to come up with a chant or some kind. When doing magic, you raise energy that is later sent out into the universe. You could make up a chant, something like "Candle burn, money come. Candle burn money come" - something simple like that. All that matters is that you get your point across and energy raised. If no energy is raised, the spell wont work. You may also want to add a little saying at the end such as "This spell is done. May no harm come to me or anyone else" just to be on the safe side.

Now that you have all the ingredients for the spell, this is the fun part! You get to piece it all together and get creative and then actually perform it! You will want yo have all the items available, your words and actions memorized, and your altar set up and ready to go.

And there you have it. Obviously if you dont have much experience with spells and magic you wany want to get familiar with various spells already written by others. When you have a good grasp of the procedures and objects used when doing spells, then you can start to experiment and write your own. Believe me, all that work is well worth getting to perform your own spell.
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