Witchery: Why Eclectic Witchcraft?

As previously discussed, there are many different paths to travel for spirituality.  When it comes to the world religions, spiritual paths, and even practices such as secular based witchcraft, there are branched paths leading from some of the oldest and most established belief systems in the world, from all over Africa, Asia, and Europe in numerous directions. Being the cradle of civilization, many of the best known belief systems started in Africa and spread as humanity and written history did to other continents and countries as time progressed and people looked for a place to call their own.

Some of the so-called new, or neo, pagan practices have been based on rediscovered information, some of it extremely well documented as having roots which come from ancient times that have been brought forward, to our modern era, through renewed interest in the ancient ways that our ancestors practiced their beliefs. From African Diasporic Traditions handed down person to person, which held focus on relationships with nature, ancestors and spirits, etc. to Norse beliefs with their own traditions, Gods, and Goddesses, to ancient Celtic beliefs passed down orally for centuries, and finally preserved in written form during the Middle Ages, and on to discovered Egyptian practices found on papyrus centuries after they were written. People are returning to the faiths that call to their individual spirits in record numbers.

From old and new traditional paths to the varying forms of Witchcraft, to Wicca, and to other new age belief systems that have sprung up during the last one hundred years, people are actively seeking a way to make sense of their personal beliefs, whether they are related to a specific faith or stand-alone practices. Many different varieties: Asatru, Candomblé, Hellenic Reconstructionism, Kemetic Reconstructionism, Luciferianism, Neopaganism, Satanism, Vodou, Witchcraft , Yoruba, Zoroastrianism, and so many more systems, or paths, are practiced around the globe, not just centralized to where they once began. People of all ethnicities are discovering practices they never knew existed before, but which seem to be made for their souls.

However, just as the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Islam and Judaism have become fractured religions, consisting of many, and in the case of Christianity sometimes thousands, of variations that continue to divide as time and beliefs progress, so have many other belief systems, including the African Diasporic faiths, Buddhist faith, Hindu faith, etc. They have splintered into varied belief forms that change and adapt to the people who follow them. All these various paths are valid for the people who believe in them and each of these paths have their own inherent beliefs and basic truths, and as truth is truth, and truth is universal, all these basic truths may be shared from one path to another. This explains the prevalence of so many paths having the same truths as their core values.

This is my reason for practicing eclectic witchcraft. Eclectic witchcraft tends to blend portions of many paths together as one. It takes the common truths as seen from all the different paths and acknowledges them as equally valid and blends them together into a single craft, or path. Each eclectic witch must make a choice of which portions of belief systems they will use in their practice of witchcraft. Some choose to use a blend of Nordic and Celtic paths; others may choose a blend of Christianity and Vodou; while still others may practice an eclectic blend of witchcraft that is completely devoid of any religious overtones and entirely secular in nature.

The thing about eclectic witchcraft is that it does not have to be a “one-size-fits-all” belief system. With eclectic witchcraft, as you study different paths and belief systems, if something specific calls to you, a particular practice, a specific deity, an accepted way of performing a ritual or casting a spell, etc, you learn all you can about it, try it out, and see if it blends well with your current beliefs and practices. Mixing and mingling various beliefs and practices in a way that specifically suits your soul. For a layman’s way of describing the way it works, imagine that all the spiritual paths are lined up in little bowls on a table, in a fashion similar to a salad bar. Just as you might choose a variety of lettuces, and vegetables whose flavors blend well, so may you find a group of ritual or spell casting techniques that blend into a nice whole for you. Add in some varieties of additional flavors like croutons or cheeses, just as you might add in working with a powerful entity or a deity, or a specific additional layer, like metals, runes, glyphs, or sigils, or themes or colored candles. Top it all off by adding in some herbs, and/or spells oils, just as you would top the salad with a dressing and voilà, it is perfect for you!

Some say this is cultural appropriation, others say it is a misappropriation, of the cultural beliefs of a group to whom a person was not born. However, in this day and age of mixed ethnicities, multiple lineages, and even belief in past lives and reincarnated souls, which I believe bear direct importance on our current lives, I cannot believe in this strict interpretation of a spiritual path. I am aware that some consider this a very unpopular stance. I understand that some people object to others practicing a faith or path they feel the person is not entitled to, born to, or raised in. Again, I cannot believe in this strict interpretation. I cannot force myself to believe that merely because I was born to a specific set of parent’s with a set variety of ethnic lineages that I am beholden to the one way that my parents chose to raise me, n a narrow subset of a spiritual path shared by the one or two accepted lineages that my parents chose to acknowledge.

If this irritates or inflames others sensibilities; I will apologize for being the source of this irritation, but I will not limit the path that calls to my soul, base on someone’s irritations or even their cultural outrage. Cultural diversity, especially in the United States and other regions that were heavily influenced by centuries of immigration and inter-marriage are known for the multicultural “melting” pots they are. I do not believe, nor have I experienced, being judged by various and assorted deities, merely because my chosen list of deities with whom I have taken the time to build relationships, is not purely based a single pantheon, path, or faith. If this were so, then why would they work together so well when called upon? I find it interesting that the “man-made” rules call for one specific thing, yet the deities do not seem to follow these rules that some men claim they prefer.

As an eclectic, my job is to honor and respect any deities with whom I work. Personally, I speak to them, give gifts, and address them on issues that share important with work for which they are well known. I would not ask a war deity to bless a spell relating to marital health for a couple, any more than I would ask a deity of harvest, drink and song to join their energy with mine to fight against atrocities committed in the name of ISIL or Boko Haram. Common sense is still a requirement for any spiritual path, just as it is for every day life, even for eclectic witches. Follow in the ways your soul leads you, not in arbitrary rules established by some group of people who do not know you. If you are called to a strict interpretation of one specific path, then follow your path with joy, but remember, all witches are different and as such each witch’s path may differ greatly from your own, it is a good point to practice tolerance until you are given a reason not to.

Witches’ Spell: Safe Traveling Spell/Hiding from the Police Spell

One of the best things about being a witch is the extra level of support I have when tending to our family’s needs. For example, when I am traveling with my sons in our beloved Ashitaka, I tend to cast magick spells for various and assorted reasons as I feel the need arises. The way I look at it is, since the magick is there, since I am a witch; why not take a minute or two before we get on the road to set a spell to protect the trip from unexpected dangers.

Sometimes, I must admit, my use of this particular magick spell is not as ethically pure as my other spells. I must admit that I have forgotten to renew license tags or (more often) forgot the danged vehicle inspection tags on a few occasions. As such, spelling the car to be invisible to the police earns me a “Bad Mommy! You should be ashamed of yourself!” lecture any time my sons catch me spelling the car for it.

You have to understand, I love Arlington, I really do, and our police department has been wonderful to me and mine. However, being like a half mile tops from one of the main police stations has its downfall for forgetful people like me. Sadly, the boys all know the gestures for my car blessings and they know the difference between a “going several states away on vacation spell”, “crossing the state line to visit family spell” and the variations when mom has forgotten to pay the tags. 😛 Hence the “bad mommy” comments, the boys make as they laugh and wag their fingers at me.

Granted, it is merely a variation of my “Safe Car Spell” that I use when we are traveling long distances, when we go visiting family, or when I get “that feeling” when I get in the car. Last time I got “that feeling” was back a few years ago when we barely missed a head-on collision in bad weather during a high-speed chase on Beach Street, by a low rider slipping into our oncoming traffic lane, out of control and the Fort Worth PD car on his tail doing the same. Now, when I go through that area, I always spell the car just as a habit.

Basics: I use hand gestures and call on deity for the four sides, of the vehicle as I draw Holy/Power symbols, the sides drawn in the “Sacred Hands Coven” purple, as I think of it. The top and bottom drawn in a shade called “Perfect Blue” and while all four sides are one power symbol, top and bottom are a second symbol. I visualize ivy beginning at the center of the top power symbol and growing down ward, twining over around and through all the parts of the magickal symbols and creating a perfect inner bubble of protection. I use ivy for good luck, for its protective properties and its ability to prevent disaster and negativity. Once the ivy has formed a perfect ball around our car, even extending into the earth under our vehicle, I visualize it as transparent, invisible to any eyes, thus we are invisible inside the bubble of protection.

For protection from the Police, I visualize it growing down I call upon my chosen deities and recite:

As it starts over the top and winds down into the ground,
Weaving in and out of the power/holy symbols I placed.
It protects us from their vision; it blocks us from their sight.
They do not see us, they do not stop us, they do not ticket us.
They do not know we are here. We pass invisible.
Nothing is harmed by our passing, nothing animate or inanimate,
As we go over, under, around, and through all things are safe in our passing.
Through my power and the power of (deities) and make it so, so mote it be.

For the protection from harm, it is much the same:

As it starts over the top and winds down into the ground,
Weaving in and out of the power/holy symbols I placed.
It protects us from all danger; it protects us from all harm.
No harm can find us, no harm befalls us, we are tucked inside.
It blocks all that would try to harm us. We travel in safety.
Nothing is harmed by our passing, nothing animate or inanimate,
As we go over, under, around, and through all things are safe around us.
Through my power and the power of (deities) and make it so, so mote it be.

One of my favorite things about witchcraft is that when using energy work, nothing else is needed. Only the energy is needed when combined with focus and intent. Yes, I call on deity. Yes, I choose to use hand gestures. Neither of them are truly needed for the spell to work. I have friends who have spelled their vehicles so that all they need is the snap of their fingers to activate the safe travel spell they have placed on their car.

Why is mine so much more complex? Why does mine require so much more of me than his requires of him? Because, quite frankly, I enjoy the ritual and the ornate manner of my spell. I enjoy the feel of the spell as the energy is directed into the symbols. It pleases me to have an elegant drawing of power symbols, it pleases me to wind my fingers through the air as I see the ivy winding, through the symbols, and I enjoy the smoothness of the hand movements required as I speak the “over, under, around, and through”. It tickles my fancy and my fancy likes tickling. What can I say, it is a witch thing.

 

Witches’ Spell: Parchment Spells

It is often common for witches to write out spells or partial components of spells for use in conjunction with their magickal workings. Some witches track their success rates, performance, etc. in their personal journal the more expensive of which may be handmade, covered in leather or suede, and boast natural parchment pages or vellum pages. There are witches who also practice spells by writing out simple parchment spells. Parchment spells are very common and easy to learn. In fact, throughout history, some of the oldest writings found on earth are spells and spell fragments from various sources on ancient parchment, vellum, papyrus, as well as carved in stone, metal, and clay.

While the types of spells shared on this post are often referred to as “parchment spells”, the use of “true” parchment is not necessary to their success. Whereas some witching purists will insist on “true” parchment for their spells, meaning certain types of animal skin/by-product prepared by an age-old ritual that has existed for thousands of years, other witches prefer high quality “true” vellum (calfskins) for spell work. Still other witches are less fussy.

For the average witch on a budget, both of the above are cost prohibitive, even though the links lead to some of the most inexpensive products I have found available online. If the witch is an active caster, an experimental witch who enjoys creating new spells for themselves and others, or a new witchling still testing new spells regularly, the cost of high quality parchment or vellum becomes exorbitant over a short time. Add to that the fact that some of the modern witches and pagans among us, are part time animal activists, some are full time and very vocal activists. Some are vegetarians or vegans, which means that both true parchment and true vellum are anathema due to being considered nothing more than “treated animal remains” by these section of our folks.

However, since spell work has been popular among various religions for several millennia and it does not seem to be going out of style with modern day witches any time soon. After a few thousand of years of writing all sorts of books, information, and even spell books, the time came when the volume of writing and printing in the world began to outstrip, by far, the volume of animal skin available for use. As such, a new, less time intensive, less expensive source became necessary and the enterprising publishing world began mass creations of papers of various styles, thicknesses, and qualities to replace the true parchments and vellums.

With the advent of parchment papers and other papers to replace the animal membranes, the “new” trend started a few hundred of years ago still thrives, today. While plant matter and cloth fibers combine to make many of the higher quality parchment papers, it is a case of to each witch their own, when it comes to preferences. Some witches prefer to buy professionally produced parchment papers and other witches prefer to make their own parchment paper.

Homemade paper is thriving because witches can add various bits of herbs or add in tiny fibers of cloth of a specific color based on their magickal intent to strengthen the spell from the ground up, as it were. There are D-I-Y instructions everywhere on the Internet that teach you how to make your own paper; you may even purchase paper making “kits” online, or special order paper from local pagan shops in many areas. Experiment until you learn what works best for you.

About Parchment Spells

A witch’s spell can be, but does not have to be, a grand affair where a circle is called, spells celebrated with specific spell incenses, burning candles, chants to a favorite deity, or complex rites around the altar, blood rituals or even sacrifices of personal items to achieve results. Sometimes a simple spell written on a piece of parchment and burned in the flame of a candle of a specific color, chosen to represent the witch’s intent is all that is necessary for a spell to succeed. Some witches will include bits of various herbs bound inside a folded spell to strengthen it. Spell specifics that are performed according to the needs and the individual path each witch; however, garner the best results. Some basic guidelines for parchment spell ideas are common across the board, as shown below:

• Crossing or Hexing – When crossing or hexing someone with a parchment spell, the name of the target is written on the parchment in Bat’s Blood ink first, then the curse or hex is written across the top of the name at an angle to for the tradition “X” shape of the crossing spell. A single line for the curse or hex is preferable and aesthetically pleasing. I prefer them to be as equal in length as possible, but that is a personal choice.

• Uncrossing or Unhexing – If you are uncrossing or unhexing another, write the name of the person who did the crossing/hexing on the parchment, then write the name of the person crossed/hexed on top of their name on the parchment in the “X” pattern. If you choose, over the top of these two names you can make the red circle with the diagonal line through it (in Dove’s Blood ink) the international symbol for banning or disallowing.
• Binding – My favorite way to do this is to link words together relating to the person in a crossword puzzle format, writing down several specifics for their life in Lampblack ink. (If you can scan and print their picture on the parchment… even better!) Give a 45-degree spin to the page after writing the facts to write out your bindings boldly in Dragon’s Blood ink over the facts/face.For example, let us say we are binding a manager, Laura Smith, who was born on December 1st. Her nickname around the office is Bobblehead because she is about as effective as a wooden bobblehead. She goes out dancing every night, was a cheerleader in high school, is married with children, has brown eyes and hair, and has a wide face with lots of moles all over it. She was born in Boise, now lives in Irving. This person is prejudiced, hateful, and wrathful. She likes to harm others, lies, spreads gossip, and spreads negativity. The finished item looks like this:

• Wishes – When writing out wishes with parchment it is a simple matter of the witch literally spelling out what they want in Dragon’s Blood ink, or want to happen. Do not be afraid to be specific in the request. If you leave the details to chance, do not complain if you are not happy with what you get.
• Do as I Say – Think of this parchment spell as you think of the “I will…” lines teacher made you write on the blackboard in school. (Well… if not you, then me, because I was always at that damned board!) Get a magickal focus on what you want to happen or do not want to happen. Focus on your intent as you take a piece of parchment and write “lines” in multiples on the page in Dragon’s Blood ink. “I will get the raise I deserve this month.” Perhaps, “That weird person at work will stop asking me out.” Do the lines in sets of power numbers, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13.

• Breaking Habits – As previously stated in the spell specifically on breaking bad habits a few weeks ago, I needed to stop smoking. I have smoked the majority of my adult life since picking up the habit at 21. Az and I put it down for just over 4 years almost a couple of decades ago, but after those four years, as the first anniversary of Az’s crossing over approached, I picked it back up. I tried in vain to put it down several times since, but there would always be a lot of stress in the days immediately following the attempt. The craving would be so intense; I would end up wanting a cigarette desperately, within a day or two of stopping I would invariably “sneak one” to chill. I knew it was better for me to stop but I love smoking, I would give in after a few days or a week; pick them back up cussing myself the whole time.After casting the spell now, I have had a day or two where I really missed smoking for a few minutes, but the intense craving is just not there. One night, last week, in particular, I was extremely stressed, but cigarettes were the furthest thing from my mind right then. I thought about them a day or two later, remembered how much I enjoyed smoking for a minute or two when remembering the stress, but the craving did not come. I have not picked them back up even though I still love smoking. Usually the craving had me back to smoking by now, this time, nah. It is a handy spell for anyone looking to put the cigarettes, or other bad habits, down. I performed my spell during the waning moon, with very little modification from the spell as written on the other blog post.

As always, the decision to personalize the parchment spells, such as using Dragon’s Blood ink is up to you. Adding runes, glyphs, or power sigils to increase the magick, adding a pinch of herbs to the top of the spell after you have written it, to fold into the parchment, tying it with a specific color of cord, ribbon, yard or thread is a choice for the individual witch. Sealing the parchment packet with your choice of wax dripped from a colored candle to secure the edges or encase the knot work the way I do it, is optional.

Your spells and rituals should be unique to your needs and desires. Adding Mars or War Water, Venus Water or Venus Oil, Satyr Oil, a specific Moon Water, Zodiac Oil, or whatever else, a witch deems as necessary, is a personal preference and adds layers of power and complexity to the witch’s spell.

When adding runes, glyphs, sigils, etc, to a parchment spell, adding them to the four corners of the spell prior to folding them in is a good choice for any witch. When adding spell oils, spell waters, you can add a single drop for each corner and one in the center, or trace your preferred holy/power symbol over the top of the spell. If you want to add additional power, you can anoint the edges of the parchment spell, beginning at the top right hand corner and circling the parchment edges widdershins to send away as for uncrossing, unhexing, and breaking bad habits spells. When drawing power into the spells for wishes, crossings, bindings, etc. start at the top right hand corner and dress the edges of the paper in a deosil motion.

The best folding pattern I have found to lock the potential into the parchment is to do a tri-fold with the written spell and any oils, herbs, etc. inside, then turning the parchment 90 degrees, do another tri-fold, to “lock” the intent of the spell inside the parchment packet.

Tying the packet closed, is a three-way system as well with my parchment spells. I loop and tie in direction based on intent of sending or receiving, rotate the packet widdershins/deosil also based on intent, rotating three times, total, and tying three times total, then dripping wax thrice on the knot work.

As always, this is my way… not the way. Take any of these spells and personalize it to suit your individual needs adding and subtracting any layers you deem necessary for your spell work. No spell is written in stone when it comes to modern or eclectic witchcraft, the individual witch makes the spell or tweaks an existing one to suit their needs.