Weather Magic
There are three things people regularly ask Witches about: Love spells, curses, and weather magic. Possibly, the public fascination is because these are somewhat taboo, rarely discussed outside of the Craft, or simply because they require great adepts to perform. I’m not sure. I’ve written before on love spells and curses (although I certainly haven’t exhausted the subjects), so I thought I’d take a look at weather magic.
Weather magic is largely a taboo subject because it is so, well, big. First of all, weather is Earth energy, so it’s not “little stuff” that you are changing. Secondly, the energy never “goes away”. Anything that is suppressed will re-erupt, sometimes even more violently, so “stop giant snowstorm” isn’t a good longterm plan. And thirdly, weather happens for a reason. Sure, you might not be happy about it raining on your wedding day, but is it worth it to spin up a draught that will devastate crops for an entire season?
So how to deal with these issues? Is there a “right time” and a “right way” to do a little weather magic? As with most things in the Craft, my answer is “sort of”. It’s just not a black and white discipline.
Let’s say you have advance knowledge of a “Natural Disaster”. Storm Tacker radar or some such. I wouldn’t recommend trying to stop it wholesale, but rather do a combination of subtle adjustments to work toward lessening suffering and swift recovery.
Neither of these items are specifically weather magic, although work can be done to create subtle adjustments to slightly alter the course of a storm or similar. This should be VERY subtle, and if a small movement isn’t going to be of much help, then it isn’t prudent to move it at all. The other work is healing work: protecting human life and sending energy to help with recovery.
As for the rainy day getting you down, I prefer to think of all the life that the rain is bringing. But on those rare occasions when I just need half an hour of clear skies (or half an hour of rain!) I don’t feel too bad about working for a brief visit from the sun. I am sure to reverse my work and allow nature to take her course. And accept that it may mean one HECK of a thunderstorm afterwards!
Because this work needs to be very subtle, it’s not for beginners and rare for adepts. If one learns to do it properly, it will be in a supervised situation. We aren’t talking about the kind of thing that can be experimented with without affecting others, so a little common sense caution is necessary.
Most “weather magic” works the other way around, with the Witch harnessing the energy of the weather situation to aid her in her work. Thunderstorms, snowstorms, and even those oppressively hot sunny days can do wonders for all kinds of work.
Is the Wiccan 3-fold rule actually true?
How important is it to cast a magic circle before spellwork or ritual? Does it make a big difference if you don’t cast one?
It really depends on what kind of work is being performed and how it needs to get “pushed out”.
A circle performs a number of functions. It does effectively keep undesirable energy out, but it also keeps things in, which can work for or against you. It can be used to magnify and accelerate the Work, so that opening the circle releases the Work in a very expansive way. If working with others, it can help to develop the group mind.
Yes, it makes a difference. Wether or not it’s important, well, that kind of comes with practice.
For example, if I am doing work to release a belief that is no longer serving me (“I need cigarettes!”) I would probably NOT use a circle, as it would hold that belief in with me while I do the work. However, once the work is done and I am prepared to do healing work (“I will strengthen my lungs!”) I would. Make sense?
For Wiccan Ritual, OTOH, I almost always “cast circle” but it’s slightly different. This is part of the creation of the temple and is necessary for performing the ritual properly. In this case, it’s more about having a bouncer for the party.
How can I tell if my circle is “working”?
I have heard people saying that they use a particular song when casting their circle or consecrating their altar and it worked perfectly. How do they know that? They feel it? They notice the effect? I’m from the southern hemisphere and casting a circle is different. Some told me to to do what feels right for me and that I should place my elements in the direction that feels right for me and see if it works. That’s what i don’t understand. what do you guys mean when you say “See if it works”??
Here are some simple “clues” to those new to casting circles. Assuming you have not become sensitive enough to see or feel the energy specifically (you probably are, you just don’t know what it looks/feels like), here are some ways to tell if your circle is “closed”:
- The air inside feels “heavier”. The practitioner may feel “lighter”.
- Static electricity inside may increase.
- Candle flames usually get about 20% bigger when the circles “closes”. It’s subtle, but if you are spotting for it, you’ll notice.
- It is more difficult to visually focus on areas outside the circle. (This actually goes away as you become more accustomed to circles.)
- Your companion animals pause before crossing the threshold of the circle or seem to “see” something where it is.
- When you open the circle, the air temperature seems to drop.
Partially open circles sometimes have:
- “Drafts” or “cold spots”. (same can be found when working with ancestral spirits, but I’m assuming a beginner is not doing that kind of work yet.)
- A sense of “suction” from above (failure to close the sunroof).
- A sense of greater gravity (failure to close the “below”.)
As for the directionality of the circle, I notice a subtle resistance if I attempt to cast a circle widdershins. When casting deosil, I do not notice this. I have not visited the Southern Hemisphere, so I cannot speak to which is beter for that part of the world, but as you become more aware of what the energy movement “feels like” (see above tips) you may beging to notice more resistance in one direction or the other.
Why must you make your own pentagram instead of buying one?
I heard that you needed to (make) your own pentagram is this true?
I would like a pagan or Wiccan to answer this question. Also do you guy think the (pentagram that’s pointing down) stands for the same thing the pentagram that (points up)?
It’s always preferable to use tools that you crafted in some way. They have your energy, your signature on them and they are therefore going to respond to working more harmoniously. They may not always be as pretty or as perfectly designed, but if you are working the Craft for the pretty you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment.
That said, If you have zero skill at the craft needed for a particular tool, purchasing a tool and then personalizing it in some way achieves a similar effect. If you simply purchase a gewgaw in a store and toss it on the altar, it is merely a gewgaw from a store, albeit in the shape of a pentagram. Personalizing it with intent and ritual will create a tool from it. (Despite all my best intentions and attempts to craft my own athame, I have settled on using a purchased blade with my bindrune carved into the handle and cords from my initiates tied to the hilt.)
As for the directionality, it is fairly traditional that the upright pentagram deals with things as they are, known and in the open (in the light). The inverted pentagram deals with hidden information, challenges, and the side of life that is often in the darkness. This is NOT to say that one direction is “good” and one is “evil”. The two sides work together to create the reality we live. One without the other is out of balance and therefore unnatural. That said, it is generally recommended to work under the upright pentacle for a period of time (usually a full solar cycle or more) before embarking on work under the inverted pentacle.
How does witchcraft work?
I’m not into witchcraft, but i was curious about something. If it does work, does the person that your cursing or putting a spell on have to be close to you? say if there in another state far away, will it still work?
I could (have) write a book on this. (No, it’s not published, it’s for my students.)
If you took high school physics (and remember any of it) you have the basic principles; simply apply to mental and emotional energy.
To “cast a spell” The person does need to be close, but not physically. (Well, it depends on the spell. I find healing spells work beter in a close proximity simply because more emotional energy is generated on seeing someone suffer.) There needs to be a connection between the caster and the subject. It does not need to be a particularly *strong* connection, and indeed work can be done to strengthen the connection for other work. If there is no mental, emotional or spiritual connection, a physical connection can sometimes be forged through sympathetic magic, or a “cast” can be done to create a connection. The former requires a good stand in for the subject (Hair, discarded clothing, etc. DNS is preferable, a photo or name can work sometimes.), the later requires the active participation of the subject.
This is, of course, a gross oversimplification, but that’s the basic gist of how it works
A simple working for communication
This was in response to a question on Yahoo! Answers. I don’t usually post “spells” here, this is more a bit of folksy magic.
If it is someone who I have been unable to contact, I will take a token of them and a token of me and place them together in a yellow bag or tie them with a yellow string. If you don’t already have some tie to this person (like if you are trying to get Justin Beiber to call you) it won’t work.
What’s this all about:
Ok, what we are doing here is a bit of sympathetic magic. The idea is to get the two people into the same sphere of interest.
Now, both people must be in the practitioners sphere of influence for it to work, which means that someone who has never had any tie to the practitioner won’t respond to the working. The work needs a conduit to travel. Think of the energy like electricity: as long as there are wires, it’ll keep going, even if the wire is a tiny strand. But no wire, no juice.
The reason I use yellow is because it is a color associated with Hermes & therefore communication. If another color says communication to you more than yellow, by all means, use that. The idea here is to have your subconscious sending the right codes with that energy down the wire. Yellow tells my subconscious that this is a connection via a communication medium. If I wanted the two people to cross paths, I might use green or black to represent physical meeting. (Actually, I would do something entirely different, but I want to illustrate how these things can be adjusted.)
