So you want to cast a spell. Okay, it's easy. Just four basic skills:
Entering an Alpha State of Consciousness, Casting a Circle, Charging Tools and Materials, and Shapeshifting.
Before we get started, however, please not that this is a crash-course in ritual magic and remember that whatever you cast, can come back to you in three folds, this is the basic Three-Folds law of witchcraft, also, that, this is white-magic and does not interfere with free will, so, casting a spell on Donald Trump to be decent to woman is not going to happen. Having said that, let's go!
Alpha Consciousness, for most of us, this is meditating, but there are others: drumming, chanting, dancing, music, and holding the body in a specific posture. In her book: Love Magic, Laurie Cabot, suggest the “Crystal Countdown” method: Close you eyes, take a few deep breaths, and picture either a red seven or the number seven against a red background. Hold it for a few seconds, and then picture an orange six. Proceed downward through a yellow five, green four, blue three, purple two, orchid one. When your attention settles into orchid, say to yourself, “I am now in alpha, and everything I do will be accurate and correct, and this is so.” Deepen the state even more by counting down from ten to one without any color component, if necessary. Once done, cast your spell, do a projection, chart an object, or perform whatever magical work you have planned.
Casting a Circle is fun! Really, be careful though, I once forgot to close it up afterwards and found snakes in my living room, really! Now they may have climbed up from the abyss, but I’m thinking the cat brought one up from the creek to play with. Anyway, because spells work with cosmic energy and because we view that energy as divine, we create sacred space by casting a circle around ourselves before casting a spell. In this way we put ourselves physically into a ring of magic, an environment filled with the very energy we work with.
To begin with, locate the four directions: east, south, west, and north. Stand facing north, go into alpha. With a wand, athame, or your index finger, draw a circle around yourself sunrise (clock-wise, saying, “I cast this circle to protect me and to draw in only the energies and forces that are right for me and the most correct for my work.” Then face each direction and invoke the spirits, elements, and powers of that direction as you know and honor them, beginning in the east. Say, for example, “I invoke the East, the spirits (or deities) or air/wind/sky/sound, etc. I invoke the South, the spirits (or deities) of fire/forge/hearth/light, etc. I involve the West…water/oceans/rivers/wells, etc. I invoke the North…earth/field/forest/mountain/cavern, etc.” Note, you can invoke spirits, Gods, or Goddesses if you prefer. (Consult your spirit-guide regarding this if you haven’t yet.)
Charging an Object or magical tool is a method of transferring energy from you (or from the universe through you) into an article to be used for magical purposes. Hold the object in your hand, go into alpha, and see in your mind’s eye the aura already around the object. Auras appear differently to different people. They may look like light, color, radiation, mist, a shimmering field, or some combination of these. Wipe away any chaotic, harmful, or unwanted energy in the object with a sweeping motion of one hand a few inches above the object, saying, “I neutralize any incorrect energy in this (name the object).” Then visualize your aura and/or cosmic energy entering the cleared energy field of the object. Notice its aura becoming brighter, sharper, denser, more intense. Say, “I charge this (name it) to be a source of power and energy for (state its purpose: love, healing, protection, happiness, etc.). I ask that this be correct and for the good of all. And so it is.”
Shapeshifting can occur on the level of consciousness, at the level of the aura, and in more advanced stages, on the physical level. The spells I have done only required consciousness shapeshifting, so I can’t speak to the physical possibility; I do, however, know it is not something one speaks of after having done it, so, it might not be as rare as it seems, but for the most part, it is the understanding that everything is alive and responsive, so we expect everything, even rocks, fire, water, and wind, to have a state of consciousness. Shapeshifting techniques allow the energy patterns of our consciousness to merge with the energy patterns of something else.
Love magic sometimes requires shifting our consciousness so that it aligns with that of another person. In so doing, energy is shared and exchanged, and by met of your will, you can direct and guide the other toward you desired end.
