What Is Witchcraft?

What Is Witchcraft?

The Different Stages of
Witchcraft

When we think about witchcraft, we sometimes imagine something grand and mysterious, an immense and unreachable power that exists only in moments of mystical intensity.
But in truth witchcraft (like so many things in life) begins with planning.
And from the planning stage it continues into several further stages that require no more than thought,
focus, and precise practice.
The different stages are done differently by every single witch (and there is no one right way).
Here I will show you my stages, and you are welcome to change them however you see fit.

1. Focus
2. Gathering the materials and choosing the technique that is right for my spell
3. Purification
4. Grounding
5. Creating sacred space
6. Raising the energy
7. Releasing the energy
8. Meditation
9. Gratitude and releasing the energies I summoned

Focus – what do I want to ask for?
Focus is the first step in building a spell.
Before we can set out, we need to set the GPS to the right address, right?
It is the same with witchcraft: to reach our goal we first of all need to know where we want to go. There are a few simple principles that will help us know how to focus.

First principle – Be positive; find what you do want rather than what you don't want. A spell directed toward joy will be stronger than a spell meant to banish sadness.

Second principle – Focus on a single thing. A powerful spell is like a laser: the more focused it is, the more force it gains. Do you want to bring yourself a happy relationship with a lovely partner of Icelandic descent, red hair, two cats, a hamster, and a stamp collection? Begin by focusing on a single word: “relationship.”

Third principle – Does the goal affect other people? Is it in harmony with the world? A spell will always be stronger (and more ethical) when it is in harmony with the wishes of everyone involved.

Fourth principle – “Be careful what you wish for – it may come true.”
Before we cast a spell we will want to be sure that we truly do want what we are asking for. Spells come true, and we need to be ready for them.

A spell may lead to the breaking down of the current situation in order to rebuild anew.
Sometimes we will ask for energy and strength and receive a terrible two-week cold, and afterward we will feel filled with renewed energy, just as we asked.
Or perhaps we will ask for the wonderful relationship we long for, only to discover that the universe is guiding us toward a few months of inner work that will lead us to that same goal with equal seriousness, and that we need to be ready for the relationship that is right for us.
We need to be ready for the effort the spell will demand of us; magic is simply the setting of energy in motion, but the work is still ours.
That's quite a lot to think about, isn't it? I know, but don't worry, there are simple ways to ask ourselves these questions.

Gathering the materials and choosing the technique that is right for my spell
The second stage is finding the tools that are most right for my spell.
Does it feel right for my spell to have red candles? Or perhaps what suits me best is to make incense full of lavender?
We may feel that different spells suit different goals to different degrees, and that the materials we choose may help us and support the goal we have chosen.

For example:
Vered is a gentle, shy young woman, and she wants to build a spell that will strengthen her
self-confidence. She feels the spell needs to “light up” the courage within her.
Vered chooses a candle spell for her working, and she will most likely choose
red candles.
Luna, on the other hand, has been searching for love for months, and she feels that a spell could help
her with her goal. She is very romantic and is looking for an emotional connection that will bring her joy and also bring peace into her life.
Luna chose an herb spell. She is going to combine lavender (for peace), roses
(for love), chili (for passion), a delicate heart-shaped necklace, and perhaps also a pink candle she saved
especially for this purpose.

The materials you choose for a spell should suit you above all.
They should bring you joy and make you feel that they are right for you.
Choose the materials, write the spell in a notebook, and you are ready to begin.

The ritual itself – a spell ritual closely resembles any other ritual, but with a few changes.

Purification
After choosing the materials and doing the writing comes the spell itself.
A large part of Wiccan spells will be done within sacred space and after purification and grounding, but there are certainly spells that we do without a circle and without all the stages. For instance,
a small, gentle kitchen spell for energy and gratitude may not require a full circle from me, but a large, formal healing spell on a full moon certainly will.

Purification can be done in several ways:
•Purification with sage – drying sage and burning the plant like incense
•Purification with salt water
•Purification with sound – for example with a Tibetan bowl or a drum
•Purification with energy alone – passing the hands in brushing motions down the body to clear away any unneeded energy
•And many other kinds…

Grounding
The purpose of grounding is to bring us back to ourselves, to focus our thoughts, and to connect us in harmony with the earth.

Creating sacred space
The sacred space is the temple created at the beginning of every ritual.
For a spell ritual we will summon the four elements and the God and Goddess, or any other supporting energy we choose. Before the full detailing of how to build it, it is important to ask ourselves: do we always
need to create sacred space or a circle during a spell?
There are countless kinds of magic and witchcraft. There are short spells done in a moment of need in the middle of
the day, and there are spells rich with meaning, which we do at the right time of the moon and at night, alongside tools we gathered especially over many days.
Over time you may discover that the objects of the ritual world become just that word, “tools.”
These are the physical objects meant to serve the energetic path in which you work.
In time you may find that you don't need to hold a whole ritual with incense, candles, and herbs for every spell, or alternatively – you may feel that rituals are exactly the right path for you.
Whatever it may be – I am happy to tell you that the decision is yours.
The purpose of the full ritual – building the circle, the purification, and the rest of the stages – is to create the emotional, mental, and energetic foundation through which we will create the spell. That is why I recommend you consider doing it consistently, at least at first, as a practice of building the spell from a connected and grounded place.
At a later stage you may feel that the connection I am speaking of is already in your blood, and you may choose to do the full ritual only for more formal spells.
In other words? Feel it out and choose from a conscious place.

Raising the energy
Raising energy is a natural process that happens in everyday life to one degree or another.
When you get ready to go to a party, put on the special outfit saved just for you, and step onto the dance floor; when you begin to dance and joy rises within you, and the sense of freedom keeps growing; when, toward midnight, you feel the energy within you growing stronger and stronger – all of these are the raising of energy.
Raising energy is a natural process, but it requires planning like every other step in the ritual.

Examples of raising energy: dancing in a circle, singing a song again and again, building a chant over and over
until it reaches its peak, repeating words, lighting candles, imagining our desire with ever-growing intensity.
Raising the energy is in fact the heart of the ritual, the moment in which we build the energy of
the spell. During the raising of energy we focus ourselves on the goal we wish to bring about.

Releasing the energy
Releasing the energy is the moment in which we release the energy we have built.
It is the shout at the end of the dance, the sudden snuffing of the candle, the throwing of the paper with the chant into the fire, or falling to the floor.
In releasing the energy we send the spell we have summoned out into the universe.
You can imagine the energy as a wave being released into the world.

Meditation
In the meditation stage we imagine our life after the spell.
How do we feel once everything has changed?
What does our life look like? How do we look, and how does the world around us look after the change? Let your imagination run wild and allow yourself to be moved by the images revealed before you.

Gratitude and releasing the energies I summoned
At the end of the ritual we give thanks to the energy that helped us during the ritual, knowing that we (like everything else in the universe) are an inseparable part of the world, and that without the energy around us we would not have had the power for the change we created.
Gratitude is an important moment that awakens humility and balance in the process of witchcraft.
If we called upon various energies or upon gods and goddesses: this is the time to thank them.
If we built a circle – this is the time to release it and the elements, and to ground ourselves.

From “The Witch and the Moon Dance – A Practical Guide to the World of Magic / Elizabeth Zohar

To order the book:
https://practicalmagic.online/book/