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      Maintaining a Magical Practice There is a lot of work that goes into a magical practice. It takes years of learning, refining and evolving, a process that never ends. There is no finish line when it comes to a magical practice, but there is infinite empowerment, self-awareness and strength.  What you can expect from this page is an introduction to the foundational energetic tools used by all magical practitioners, followed by the basic correspondences (ingredients that have a connection to your intention) available  to build a spell, a frame work for a ritual, and finishing with a conversation around the responsibility of a magical practitioner.  First things first, you have to figure out your intention. In our New Moon Ritual we guide you on how to set an appropriate intention. We provide journal prompts to help you deeply understand your need and create an action plan so you can manifest your intention into existence. Content: Grounding Cleansing Protection Creating Sacred Space Divination Candle magic Elemental Magic Performing Spell Work Ethics vs. Self defence Grounding You’re at home cooking yourself a meal at the end of the day. It’s quiet, there’s nice music playing in the background, and it looks like it’s going to be a great evening. But then the phone rings, which sets off the dog who starts barking. You can’t answer the phone with the dog barking, so you go into the next room. The fire detector goes off because your unwatched food is burning. You rush out to grab a towel and wave it under the smoke detector. The dog is still barking and now your streaming service has decided to play some weird music that’s putting you on edge. The phone rings again. It’s too much to deal with. Your heart rate is speeding up and you find yourself panicking. This is where a grounding exercise would benefit you. Grounding is one of the foundational blocks of all magical practices. Although basic, this skill is one of the most important for any magical practitioner. Open up a book about Witchcraft 101 and you can be sure to find a chapter about grounding your energy near the beginning.  One of the most useful techniques to learn, grounding your energy can become second nature with practice. You will use it heavily throughout your magical experience, and to help improve every day life.  Grounding is the process of neutralizing excess energy. Most likely you already do this unconsciously. Stomping your feet, shaking your arms when you’re too excited, going for a walk in order to escape a charged situation, and petting your dog when you need a minute to yourself, are a few ways you may already be using this technique. Magical practitioners do the same thing, but with intention. Every magical practitioner has their go to version of grounding. Walking barefoot on the earth, visualizing a tap root forming from the base of their spine to the centre of the earth and pushing the excess energy down into it, relaxing breathing exercises, to name a few. They all produce the same results, grounding the practitioners energy.  Grounding With Tools Beginner magical practitioners may find it easy to learn to ground using sensory aids. Scents have the power to influence our emotions. Scents send signals to our limbic system, which is the sector of the brain that controls memory and emotion.  Close your eyes and visualize your happy place. What do you smell? Maybe it’s jasmine on the breeze, or vanilla from home baked cookies. Mine is the scent of amber which I find warm and comforting. You can carry magically charged oils to help you ground your energy. Combining it with a visualization practice will help anchor the technique so you can do it quickly and effectively.  You can also use crystals in your grounding practice. Black crystals like tourmaline, jet, and obsidian are very powerful grounding tools. Paired with a visualization exercise you’ll become familiar with the technique quickly. Just remember to cleanse your crystals regularly so they don’t hold onto the unwanted energy.  Sound is also a wonderful grounding aid. Singing bowls are incredibly relaxing and are a full body experience. You can feel the vibrations throughout your entire body. You can also use bells, drums, humming, play calming music or relaxing sounds.  Once you become familiar with grounding techniques you’ll start incorporating them into your everyday life. You’ll develop awareness of your energy and when you need to ground, adding a tool to your magical practice.  Energetic Cleansing Grounding and Cleansing could be considered two sides of the same coin. Where as grounding is neutralizing excess energy, cleansing is removing unwanted energy from yourself or from your surroundings.  Cleansing Yourself Cleansing yourself should be among your first steps when you perform magic. Practitioners need to cleanse themselves to avoid carrying unwanted energy into their magical practice. Understanding the symptoms of carrying unwanted energy is helpful to your magical practice. It’s difficult to manifest money when you’re feeling stressed about that unpaid bill on your fridge.  Water is a powerful cleansing tool. Showers are excellent ways to wash the days energy off of you. Next time you’re in the shower visualize the water washing that unwanted energy from you, down your drain, and out of your space, like washing mud off a rock. You can also cleanse objects by running them under cold water.  Especially during planetary events like Mercury Retrograde, it's important to mainting your daily cleansing.   Often practitioners will take magical ritual baths. They’ll use oils, herbs, and stones with similar correspondences to achieve the desired mindset they wish to bring into their sacred space. You can also use smoke, sounds, and visualization to cleanse yourself and objects like stones, jewelry, and magical tools. Cleansing Your Space Cleansing your environment is equally as important as cleansing yourself. It’s tough raising positive energy when there’s a pile of dirty clothes in your sacred space. Everything holds energy! The dirt from your shoes? It’s holding energy from the environment you tract it in from. You don’t want foreign environmental energy, or other peoples energy influencing your magic, so you have to cleanse it. Tidying is a great way to cleanse your physical space, but you also need to cleanse your energetic space. Smoke cleansing is a great way to do this. Sage, Palo Santo, and copal are among the most powerful herbs to help dispel the unwanted energy. Just make sure to disconnect your smoke detector. Opening a window is also important since you want that energy to go outside of your home. Sound is also a great tool for cleansing your space. Bells, gongs, singing bowls, drums, and other magical instruments work by raising the frequency of your surrounding energy. If you can feel it vibrating through your body, you can be sure it’s working throughout your space as well. If you are good at visualizing you can use it to help you cleanse your space. I like to visualize a white pillar of light flowing from the crown of my head out into the universe. I draw down the universal energy and allow it to radiate from my heart centre into my surroundings. I make sure to fill the hidden nooks and crannies with that white light. I pay close attention to under and behind furniture, in cupboards, drawers, and the corners of the room. Cleansing On The Go If you are out and about and need a quick cleanse try washing your hands with the intention to wash the energy off of you. You can also create magical sprays that you can carry on your person and spritz yourself when you need it.  Lastly, don’t forget about the cleansing power of wind. If all else fails go stand outside on a windy day and let the air element blow that funk off and away from  you. There are so many options to cleanse yourself. You’ll become familiar with your favourites and use them in and out of your magical practice.  Magically Protecting Yourself Magical protection is protecting yourself from external energies or spiritual beings. Often referred to as shielding, this is a tool that takes practice to master but one that is worth the effort.  To create a magical shield close your eyes and ground yourself. Once you are grounded extend a white pillar of light into the universe drawing down the universal energy into your heart centre. With every exhale visualize a bubble of white light growing from your heart centre until it surrounds you in every direction. See it grow firm and dense, knowing that no unwanted energies can penetrate your bubble of protection.  You can also protect yourself with a spiritual bath using herbs, oils, and stones that resonate with the appropriate intention. You can visualize the water creating a protective barrier between your skin and the outside world so that no external energies can influence you.  Drinking teas with herbs like rose or lavender can energetically protect you. When using teas in magic you can infuse your tea with your intention. Using your dominant hand, stir your tea with a spoon clockwise 3 times. Feel your energy flowing down your arm, through the spoon, and into the tea. Announce “those who drink this tea are protected from unwanted energy”.  When consuming the tea feel the magic spread through your body.  You can also use magically infused oils to protect you by anointing your body. Drawing protective symbols or sigils onto your body with the oil will add an extra layer to your magic.  Protecting your space Magical practitioners often create permanent scared space in their homes. This magical working assures that your space remains protected from outside influences or spirits at all times.  This can look like stone grids, an ancestral altars, a sigil chalked on your wall, or candles charged with intent. There are so many ways to create permanent sacred space, it’s unique to each practitioner. What they all have in common is they’re created with intention and charged with power. Check out our DIY custom herbal mix to create permanent sacred space in a location of your choosing.  Once set up it does take some maintenance. I recommend cleansing and re-energizing your work with your intent once a month. I like to do mine on the full moon.  Protect yourself on the go If you are out and about and need some protection you can create your energetic shield. It can take energy and time, especially if you’re a beginner. That’s when we turn to our magical tools. You can create Mojo bags which are magically infused organza bags filled with stones, oils, herbs, and other protective curios. These bags can be charged with any intent to draw in money, love, or health, but they can also ward off evil and negativity. To create your own you simply need the correspondent ingredients and your intent. Check out our mojo bag recipes:  Attract Fast Luck Mojo Bag Recipe "Love Spells - For Existing Relationships, Romantic, Plutonic & Self-Love" for an attraction mojo bag recipe.  "How To perform Herbal Magic" to learn various ways you can add herbs to your magic  Talismans are another powerful form of protection. You can choose a piece of jewellery, a stone, or any small object you cary on your person and charge it with intent during ritual. The evil eye pendant is a well known protective talisman that you can find in every metaphysical shop. You can also create your own talismans by carvings or drawing sigils and symbols onto jewellery, or on an object of your choosing.  Sprays are an excellent way to protect yourself. You can create your own using protective oils and distilled water then charging it with your intent. Bring it with you wherever you go and use it when you need an extra boost of protection.  If you want to make visits with the in-laws, large crowded stores, or any trip out in public a little easier, learning how to protect yourself is what you’ve been looking for. With enough practice and dedication you can throw up a shield lickity split. No need to fear social interactions any longer.  Creating Magical Sacred Space Now that you know how to ground, cleanse and protect yourself you’re ready to create sacred space so you have a safe container to do magic inside of.   Let’s say you are blessing a necklace to attract love and open it up for spirits to help imbue this energy. If you don’t create that energetic boundary, there is potential for a spirit with ill intent to lend a hand. Creating an energetic boundary is a process, but it’s tried and true. First you’ll want to ground yourself and start from a place of serenity. Cleansing your space and yourself comes next.   When you feel ready, close your eyes and connect yourself to the earth using a tap root visualization and connect yourself to the universe using the white pillar visualization. This is referred to as middle pillar. Feel free to use your preferred way of create middle pillar if you’re familiar with the process.  Draw both earth and universal energy into your heart centre, add intent (to create a sacred boundary of protection) and allow it to flow through your arm and out of your finger tip. You can direct the energy in a circle around your space or you can direct it to fill the walls of the room you are in.  Once your walls are sealed and protected go over it a second time to protect the floor and the space beneath you, followed by a third to protect the ceiling and the space above you. You can say out loud “by Earth, by air, by water, by fire, this space is protected, that is my desire” to seal the space. Now that you have set your magical space you can begin your ritual. Once you have completed your magic, don’t forget to take down the magical space. You can visualize yourself drawing in the energy and grounding it into the earth. There are many ways to create sacred space, including creating sacred space with the movement of your body. This is just one that I find beginner friendly. This technique helps you develop a relationship between your own personal power and the power outside of you that you can tap into when needed.  Divination  Divination may be one of the more exciting tools in your magical practice. Who doesn’t want to see the future!? Any magical practitioner worth their salts will tell you that that’s not how it works.  Divination is about communicating with spirit. Whether that spirit be your ancestors, your spirit guides, a deity, or even your subconscious, divination is a powerful tool to use when you are looking for guidance.  As with all magical work, when you are preparing to divine, cleanse and create sacred space to protect yourself from outside influences. The amount of effort that you put into your practice will determine your results. What adds to the excitement of divination is the variety of methods you can work with to divine. As with all magical practices, divination takes time and dedication. The more you work with it the clearer your messages will start to become.    Pendulums Pendulums are one of the simplest forms of divination to use. A pendulum is made with a stone, metal or wooden shape that ends in a point attached to a chain. It works by first defining and communicating to your tool what the various movements mean.  There are  different movements your pendulum can move in. Front and back, side to side, in a clockwise circle, counterclockwise (windershins), and jumping and vibrating in place. You can work with your pendulum to determine what directions mean what.  For instance, I use clockwise to mean yes, counterclockwise to mean no and if it jumps and vibrates I’ll take that to mean unclear.  The trick to using a pendulum is to clear your mind so that your conscious mind, fears and worries don’t interfere with your reading. I use a visualization technique to help me stay unbiased. I image a needle pointing up with yes on one side and no on the other. I visualize throughout the entire reading the needle pointing up in the middle position between the two.  Divination Cards For an in-depth divination reading you can turn to divination cards. You can use tarot, oracle, letterman or even a deck of playing cards. The great thing about divination cards is that there are so many decks to choose from. Various art styles and themes make working with divination cards incredibly fun and personal.  When it comes to divination cards, each card has a meaning. Once you learn the cards meanings you can add an additional layer of understanding by looking at the artwork on the card and interpret the imagery that jumps out at you. Reading cards is a commitment and with practice you’ll begin to create relationships with your decks. Magical practitioners often have multiple decks and they’ll turn to certain ones when they have specific needs.  If you’re new to card reading, I suggest you familiarize yourself with each individual card and they’re meaning by using the guide books that often come with your deck. Another option is to purchase educational books or you can invest in classes with an experienced teacher.  Divination Runes Divination runes are symbols from the Elder Futhark, the communication system developed by the ancient European tribes. Often associated with Norse and Germanic mythology, a full set of divination runes consist of 24 runes or staves. These are engraved or marked on stones or wooden disks.  Much like the tarot each symbol has its own unique meaning. Runes are both a language as well as a divinatory system. By casting, or throwing your runes you can interpret the message or theme of your request.    Scrying Scrying is the act of looking into a surface to divine information using the images you see in the reflection or in your minds eye. You can use a crystal ball or a scrying mirror which is a smooth, black, reflective surface. You can scry into water by using a black bowl or pan or you can scry into fire and use smoke to scry. This list is by no means non-exhaustive, but features the more common forms of scrying.  To begin scrying, set your intention and allow your mind to relax. As images and thoughts begin to form in your mind, sit back and observe them without interacting with them. You can write them down, or you can speak out loud and record your voice and return to it when you are in a grounded state. You then interpret the imagery you’ve seen.   Casting  Casting is the act of throwing a lot of meaningful objects onto a mat and divining information from the specific objects and their location. Casting can be done with bones, shells, trinkets or a combination of all of them. A casting collection or lot, is deeply personal to the magical practitioner. They are collected and represent individual meanings. There are collections of bones from various animals that pull symbolic meaning from those animals. A fox is often sene as clever and cunning, where as a mouse can symbolize adaptability.  The casting mats are unique to each practitioner. A common mat will be separated into 4 sections with 3 concentric circles. Depending on which tokens land where on the mat will influence the divined meaning.  Casting is a divination method that can be much more individualized and personal. I suggest investing in books and courses dedicated to the craft. Candle magic Using candles in your magical practice is a powerful way to ignite and activate your intention. There’s something about the combustion of the flame and dissolving of the wax that sets your spell in motion.  That being said, the more energy you put into your candle, the more correspondences, intention and will you infuse before lighting, the greater the results will be. Some practitioners create their own candles, which can have extremely powerful results.  One of the most obvious correspondences is candle colour. Each colour works best for different intentions. It’s best to use your intuition while choosing your candle colour since one intention can be used with multiple colours.  For example, you can use green for success in business, but if you are looking for expansion then purple may be your best option. You could use brown if you want to stabilize your business and grow roots, or you could use dark blue for its transformative powers to cleanse the dead weight.  White or Silver: Divinity, truth, balance of spirit, protection, invocation, peace, and spirituality. Can be used as an all purpose candle. Black: protection, uncrossing, banishing, ending, binding, and breaking bad habits.  Yellow: success, East, Element of Air, mental clarity, creativity, confidence, swift action, and accuracy Orange: Combination of yellow and red. Luck, success, encouragement, stimulation, energy, willpower, and attraction. Red: Attraction, South, element of Fire, intense health, vitality, vigor, love, passion, sexuality, fertility, and courage. Purple: combination of blue and red. Expansion of all desires, spiritual cleansing, psychic ability, protection, power, wisdom, and healing.  Light Blue: Lunar Energy, communication, meditation, inner wisdom, harmony, tranquility, patience, peace, and health.  Dark Blue: Transformation, West, Element of Water, soothing, peace, calm, harmony, understanding, communication, legal matters, wisdom, protection, devotion, honour, and loyalty. Gold: Male energy, Sun energy, intelligence, quick action, royalty, victory, healing, and wealth. Green: Growth, wealth, North, Element of Earth, money, abundance, fertility, harvest, health, success, business, career, work, luck, heart chakra. Pink: spiritual, emotional love, love, attract soul mate, creative abilities, heal, attract friends, inner beauty.  Gray: Neutrality, absorbs and repels, wisdom, truth, communication, intelligence, education, and memory. Brown: North, Element of Earth, Feminine energy, stability, work, friendship, practicality, home blessing, pet spells, court cases, and self-esteem. Dressing your magical candle As with all magic, you have to begin with a cleansing. Cleanse your candle by running it through smoke from burning herbs, under cold water, submerge it in salt for a night or use whatever cleansing method works best for you. Make sure to cleanse yourself as well since any emotional blocks or foreign energy can get in the way of your spell work.  This is where candle magic gets fun. You can put your energy and will into your candle using carvings, oils, herbs, stones, and whatever else you feel inclined to put onto your candle. Think of the candle as the container and you want to fill it to fulfill your goal.  I like to use my breath to breathe life into the candle. I’ll state my intention onto it several times feeling the wind from my breath roll over it. I’ll also breathe into my herbs, stones, and oils I use for the candle adding additional layers of energy.  You can carve your intention into your candle, use symbols or create your very own magical sigil. The important part is that it means something to you and you visualize your outcome while carving, infusing the candle with your energy.  Carve the astrological zodiac symbol into your candle to harness that signs energy. This will help flavour your spell with that zodiac signs energy, adding another layer of power to your spell. You can create an oil infusion for your purpose or choose an existing oil from your metaphysical store that aligns with your intention. While anointing your candle with oil remember to visualize your intent, repeat your intention in your mind or breath it over the candle.  If I am bringing something into my life I like to apply the oil first from the top down to the middle moving the candle clockwise until the top half is covered. Then I apply the oil from the bottom to the middle moving the candle clockwise until the candle is covered. If I am removing something from my life I’ll move from the middle out in a counter clockwise motion.  I like to add another layer of energy by rolling my candle in an herb mixture or crushed stones. I make sure to charge the herbs or stones with my intent before applying to the candle. Using a mortal and pestle is a great way to pound the intention into your materials.  Witchy tip: If you are attracting something into your life fill the candle with energy to create a spiritual beacon. If you are performing a reversal spell keep your candle empty so it can be filled. Using Fire As An Energy Conduit Make sure your candle is placed in a fire proof container, trim the wick to 1/4 inch and never leave your candle unattended.  I like to place my candle and container over my petition paper. Cast your sacred space and invoke the elements, your deities, ancestors, or whoever else you care to invite. Once your space and candle are ready you can light the wick. I like to light my candles with traditional matches. There is something very symbolic about creating a flame from the movement of your own arm. The natural wood material, the scent, the beauty of the spark turning into flame helps activate all the senses. It’s a powerful trigger that it’s time to get liminal.  While your candle is burning it is time to do your spiritual work. Meditating is a great option, visualizing your life in the future when your work has come to fruition. You can choose to dance, write or create to build that energy. Performing some divination is an excellent option that can help you work through some blocks you may have to clear.  Whatever you choose know that your flame is a conduit for your energy. Know that the candle directs the energy to where it needs to go.  Once your candle has been dressed and lit it’s time to pay attention to your candle. With practice you can begin to understand the insight your spell candle offers. There are messages in its movements, the smoke and the wax. There Is a form of communication that comes from candle magic, especially if you are working with spiritual beings.  Candle magic is an art onto itself and if you choose to work with this spell form it’ll develop into a personal experience. You can start simple with a cleansing, an intention setting and some observation. Over time you can slowly add layers and elements to your practice, making it unique to your magical  practice.  Elemental Magic The elements are powerful energies to tap into when performing your spell. Many magical practitioners make it a priority to invoke the elements once they cast their sacred space. There is an element for each cardinal direction. The North represents the earth elementals, East is for air, South is fires domain, and water is in the West.  Each element has their magical domains. The elements are more than simple ingredients, they are a way of life. They are present in everything at all times. Start thinking like a witch and incorporate the elements into your daily life. The Element of Earth Earth element Keywords: Stable, Growth, Grounding, Roots, Foundation, Physical, Prosperity, hard-working, dependable, practical You can not rush the Earth. Older than all beings on this planet, it takes it’s time but it is constant. From trees to buildings all that is firmly planted in the Earth can not be moved with ease.  The Earth elemental is excellent to call upon when you want to build something that lasts. This is why it is excellent to work with when building a new business or working with family.  Earth is the element to turn to when you are looking for prosperity and wealth. Just like farmers who have to till the earth, plant their seeds and harvest their rewards, The Earths energy reassures that all your hard work will pay off.  Check out our guide on money magick: How you're block yourself and 3 money spells. The Element of Air Air Element Keywords: Communication, Speed, Clarity, Ideas, New Beginnings, logic, Objective, Adaptable Allow the quickest element, Air to cleanse you if you are standing in a strong wind. This element is adaptable, able to change directions in an instant, able to mold itself around obstacles to get around them.  Air is the element in the East, where the sun rises, giving life to a new day. This makes this element ideal for new beginnings, new ideas, and new objectives. Never touching the ground the element of air is free flowing allowing new, unbiased ideas to take shape.  The air element is ruled by the planet mercury, the planet of communication and logic. Therefor this is the element to use when you are brainstorming or problem solving. Facts rule over feelings in the dominion of air, making objective decisions a priority.  The Element of Water Water Element Keywords: Emotional, Cleansing, Transformation, Love, Relationships, intuitive, compassionate, peaceful, imaginative Wash away that which does not serve you in running water. The most compassionate element, water is the one to turn to when you are healing yourself. In order to move through your emotions you have to experience them fully, and water is all about feeling. The element that transforms from gas, to liquid to a solid object, water is the element to turn to when you are looking to transform something that already exists into something else. This makes water the ideal element to work with when it comes to personal growth.  Everything has a reflection and water is an ideal surface to show those reflections. This is why water is associated with intuition. It sees all. Combine that with your gut feelings and you have the perfect conduit for heightening your intuition. The Element of Fire Fire Element Keywords: Passion, Creativity, Desire, Destruction, Rebirth, Protection, energetic, wild The Element of Fire is that which pursues. It is the passion that drives us, the desire that keeps us moving forward. Turn to this element when you have a goal in mind you wish to reach. This is the element to harness when you need a clean slate by burning everything to the ground to rebuild.  The element of fire is energetic and wild, it pursues what it wants without giving it a second thought. This is the element of impulse. That being said, it is difficult to stop so if you want to bring something into your life quickly the element of fire is one to call upon.  Put yourself in a ring of fire and nobody can get to you, making this the ideal element to turn to when you need powerful protection. Give it enough fuel and it’ll keep raging. When you harness the element of fire you harness raw energy.  Work with the element of Fire with these 3 spells/rituals. Performing Spell Work Now that you have a some basic knowledge of the foundational practices of working magic along with various tools you can use, let’s get into building a spell. The most important part of any spell is intent.  Preparing your spell I am careful when I create my intent. I first make sure my need for the spell is real, and what I mean by that is that my heart and soul are behind the spell. It feels good in my body to perform this spell.  When forming my intention I make sure to be specific. We’ve all fallen into the trap of performing a spell with too vague of an intent, these lead to very chaotic outcomes. You could perform a prosperity spell and end up scheduled for overtime the following week.  If you want to add extra layers of power to your spell you can consult the timing. What phase is the moon in and does it benefit my spell? What day of the week is best for the type of spell I’m performing? What season are we experiencing in this hemisphere? Every layer of power adds to the magic.  Once your intention is set you can choose ingredients with correspondences that align with your spell. There are plenty of books to help you identify ingredients and their magical correspondences.  Another alternative is to hold each magical correspondence and ask it if it’ll be beneficial to your spell. You’ll be able to gauge if it’s a yes or a no by checking in with your body and relying on your gut response and intuition.  You can also use a pendulum to help you choose your ingredients or other divinatory tools. I prefer a pendulum in this scenario because you can get simple yes or no answers.  Once you have your intent, timing and ingredients ready to go it’s time to give your space and yourself a little of attention. Physically clean the space you will be performing your spell in. It’s a good idea to do a quick vacuum or sweep to get the old energy moving.  I like to take a quick shower before I begin any rituals. This cleans off the sweat or dirt you may have picked up while cleaning. It also cleans your energetic self. Water is an amazing tool to wash away that which no longer serves you.  Now your space is physically clean and you are physically and energetically clean. It is time to energetically clean your space. Open some windows and perform your preferred method of banishing unwanted energy.  Making Magic Now it’s time to create your sacred space. When casting a magic circle, begin by creating middle pillar. Energetically connect to the universal energy and ground into the earths energy. Draw from both directions into your heart centre and direct that energy out and around you.  You can visualize energy directing out of your finger in a clockwise circle around you and the space you will be working in. You can do this 3 times to reinforce your sacred space around, above and below you.  You can speak an intention out loud to seal the space.    By Earth, By Air, By Water, By Fire,  This sacred space is cast, that is my desire.  Once my sacred space is cast this is where I call upon the four quarters and those above and below me for energetic assistance. You may also wish to call in specific deities, spirits or ancestors.  Check out our Abundance Ritual With The Goddess Oshun to work with a benevolent Goddess. Now is the fun part, you are ready to perform your magic. Take your time performing your spell. The more energy you put into it, the stronger your spell will be.  Ending spell work Once you are finished thank those you have called in and let them know they may return to where they came from. Say goodbye to those above and below me and the elements. Finish off by closing down your sacred space. You can do this by walking counter-clockwise the perimeter of your circle, collecting the energy into you and grounding it into the earth.  What to do with your spell remains you may be asking. There are a few different things you can do. If you want to keep it around to act as an energetic beacon you can put it on your altar. Another option is to bury It. A common option is to bury the spell near your front door to invite those energies into your home. Think of it like planting a seed with the hope that it grows to bear fruit.  If you want to get rid of the spell and banish it from your being there are a few options. You can burn the spell remains in a fire. I’ve brought a large collection of old candles to the campground and threw them onto the fire late at night under the moon.  If your spell is biodegradable or made from natural materials you can throw it into running water. I’ve been known to write releasing spells on paper made from natural fibres, wrapped it around a clear quartz tied with a string of natural material and thrown it into fast moving water.  Another good option is to bring the spell remains off of your property, as far as you can, and throw it into a trash can. A heavily trafficked area like a mall is a great place. The amount of people coming and going will help to disperse the energy.  Magical Ethics vs. Self Defense Working with magic, claiming yourself as a witch is empowering. You have the ability to create great things in your life, help others, gift magic to loved ones and protect yourself. But with power comes responsibility. There is a dangerous side to magic if practiced unethically.  Love magic in particular has a darker side that we dive further into. Anger and hurt are heavy emotions with a lot of power. If you are tempted to cast baneful magic, sleep on it. Come back to the intention the following day when your anger isn’t red hot.  If you feel the need to cast using that fury you can direct it to a cause, a group or a person who is doing harm on a large scale. Use that anger to help others who are being treated unfairly.  Magical boundaries Sometimes you may have to cast self-defence magic. If someone is treating you unfairly, spreading harmful gossip, prohibiting you from moving forward, or any other form of harm to you, your family or your loved ones, it may be necessary to defend yourself magically.  You could return the magic from where it came, freeze them out, hot foot their existence out of your life or create some heavy magical boundaries. If you are being treated with malice then it is more than reasonable to protect yourself.  Shadow Work If you want your magic to grow, you have to grow. There is a difference between a magical bandaid and magical break throughs. You are never too old to change your brain. Learn how you can use neural plasticity combined with magic to make lasting changes to your thoughts, habits, and reactions. Doing this work is particularly powerful during the winter months when the world is quiet. It is the time to perform winter solstice and Yule rituals. For Fire Burning Ceremonies. For Self-assessment tarot card readings. For cord cutting rituals. For making space for the new. This is the basis of shadow work. It’s looking at your own beliefs, values, and traumas, and doing the work to heal yourself. Using your ancestors to aid you on your healing journey can be beneficial. Many of these struggles were past down from generation to generation. If you are going to do deep, childhood shadow work it may be wise to seek out professional help. A mental health professional can guide you down the right path and give you tools to help work your way through the trauma.  Shadow work is hard, messy and often glorified in our society. The truth is shadow work is scary. In order to work your way through the pain you have to experience the pain. That means if you’ve been locking away your feelings you’re going to have to experience them to their full extent. Please seek out a mental health professional if you are working through trauma.  If you are going to help others using magical means you have a responsibility to heal yourself first. You can not perform magic from a place of healing if you are not there yourself.