A Gentleman's Guide to Witchcraft

A spell to help someone realize that they are just being incredibly dumb.

Ingredients:

A sigil to represent your target

A sigil to represent wisdom

A sigil to represent regret

An indigo candle

Sage incense

Steps:

Carve the sigils into the candle

Light the candle

Use the candle to light the incense while saying  “You have chosen a selfish path, learn your wrongs, and face guilt's wrath.”  Three times.

Blow out the candle.

A lot of us get started with the practice when we’re in our edgy teen stages and are looking to get back at our middle school bullies.  It never takes long for us to do our research and quickly get more sucked into the craft as a whole, and we forget about the curse we wanted to cast.

That being said curses and hexes are a part of magic, although they really shouldn’t be used without good cause.  Most people who know about curses use their knowledge for detecting and breaking curses.  That being said, we can’t ignore an aspect just because we don’t like it, or because it can be harmful, rather we need to share what information we have, and help each other think through what we’re doing before we hurt someone.

I imagine a lot of beginners would hear this and ask “Why not use curses, some people deserve it?”  The simplest answer is because you shouldn’t use magic to solve all your problems and if someone truly deserves it, I’d recommend non-magical means to help them get what they deserve.  Another good reason is because odds are, whatever you do will come back to bite you.  This can be called karma, but I hear it more often called the threefold rule, which basically states whatever you do will come back to you three times over.  So even if you’re casting a curse on someone who truly deserves it, are you prepared for the consequences?

If you find you absolutely must curse some one, then I’d stick to the idea of “confuse, don’t abuse.”  Which is to say, mess with them for sure, but don’t actually hurt them.  Some ways I’ve seen this put in practice is a curse to keep someone away from another person.  I’ve used such a spell to help my friend avoid an abusive ex (note: never cast a spell that effects someone you know without their permission, it’s just rude.)  Another way I’ve seen a curse done is to try and help someone realize what they’re doing wrong.  I wrote a spell that I titled “You’re a dumbass” and have used only when I see someone doing things that are clearly wrong from and outside perspective, but they can’t seem to see it.  This is without a doubt a curse, but one that’s not especially harmful, and I was prepared for my own flash of perspectives as a consequence when I used it.

Now we’re to the end of my rant when I put the “manly” spin on things.  In this case I have very little spinning to do, curses are unisex, as are their consequences.  What I will say for the more masculine is a warning.  Generally when we’re raised in a more masculine in environment we’re taught to keep our emotions inside and bottled up.  This can quickly be something we lose control over, which can lead to unintentional curses fueled entirely by our own anger.  The solution here is simple, don’t hide your emotions.  All emotions are healthy to express, including negative ones; If you have an issue with someone, talk to them about it.  The problem you thought could only be solved with a curse may just be a miscommunication that spiraled out of control (yes that is speaking from experience).

To enchant a blade as a protective talisman

Ingredients: Blue candle Red candle Purple candle knife

Enchantments are probably one of my favorite kinds of magic to practice.  The basic idea of an enchantment is to imbue an object with a certain type of energy so that it either attracts the same energy, or repels the wrong kind of energy.  Energy work is a huge thing in my personal practice so I’ve done this a lot in a lot of different ways.

To me there are essentially two types of enchantments: Active and passive.  Active enchantments are something you’ve actively put energy and intention into, something that’s actively enchanted will have a clear purpose, such as a protection charm.  Passive enchantments are things that have been around a certain type of energy that they carry it with them, sometimes needing be recharged if it’s away from its source for a long time.

When it comes to the act of enchanting things, there’s no wrong way to do it, as with all types of witchcraft.  When I actively enchant things, it’s usually at my altar, with candles lit, and an offering made to whichever of my gods I’m asking to bless my object with their energy.  If I’m using my own energy then it’ll often be by meditating on the energy I want and passing the object through the smoke of an incense I put together to represent my intention.  An example of this is a signet ring I wear; I enchanted the ring to represent my armor and keep me protected, while also binding the symbol on it to be a sigil that I use to represent myself.  For passive enchantment, it’s not really something that can be done on purpose, for example I wear a necklace that was given to me by my fiancee over three years ago, and I’ve taken off only about 5 times since then.  Since it came to me from an act of love and has been there for almost the entirety of our relationship I know it’s absorbed that energy and has become a love talisman.

When it comes to trying to make enchantments more manly it mostly comes down to choice of object.  Enchanting a hat, a knife, or something else that you have on you the majority of the time is a good choice if you need the thing to work a lot, and enchanting a special tie or cuff links if it’s something you need at only certain times.  Ultimately all that matters is what you need and you have available, again there’s no wrong way to do it.

For help adapting to changes

Ingredients: Raspberry leaf tea Lavender Catnip Honey

Potions are probably one thing that almost everyone thinks of when they hear the words “witch” or “magic”, and with good reason.  For a long time witches used plants prepared properly to treat disease, which eventually became the modern practice of medicine.  Potions are a form of magic very close to science, which makes me love them, as I am a big fan of both.

These days I’m not as inclined to get willow bark when I can get aspirin easily, but I still use some potions for both their effects, and their taste.  By this of course I mean teas.  There are dozens of types of teas with more uses than I know or can possibly fit in this post (foreshadowing!) so I’ll just talk about my personal favorite tea as an example.

Almost daily I drink a green tea with a few mint leaves mixed, and a little honey if I want something sweet.  The green tea I use mainly for its metabolism boosting properties and caffeine, although I also like the energy and healing properties it has magically.  The mint is use for its calming magical properties, and sometimes for its more scientific stomach settling properties.  Finally the honey is mostly for flavor and a little protein in case the tea is my breakfast, and I’ll usually use it to draw either a sigil for peace or luck into my tea depending on what I need that day.  I much prefer to use loose leaf, but I’ll use premade tea bags if i’m in a hurry.

This is one that’s tough to really put much of a “manly” spin on, since tea is a very unisex thing to begin with, but for the naysayers:  Many warrior cultures drank tea before battles, either as a form of offering and honor as with the samurai, or to try and boost their abilities as with the viking berserkers.  If you desperately need it too be as manly as possible, leave out the honey and it’ll be about as bitter as coffee.

For aid from your ancestors, both in blood and blade

The only thing you’ll need is something to represent the protection of your armor. If you’re not sure what to use a piece of amber can work.

Place your armor representation in front of you and recite this incantation 3 times:

“I ask for the strength of my brothers and sisters who have fallen The strength of the clan until my task is at its end”

Incantations, sometimes known as magic words, are probably one of the most famous types of a spell, and with good reason.  We often picture some kind of chant to help summon whatever magic powers we want to use at the time.  I love incantations in my spells, both because I am dramatic and live for ominous chants, and because incantations are a great place for a little poetry which I also love.

When it comes to the how to of incantations there’s very little to say beyond “do what comes naturally”.  Incantations can be long drawn out chants in verse, they can be a quick quip in latin saying what you want to do, they can be a single word that you made up for the specific spell you’re working on, or anything in between.  The greatest importance for incantations is your intent.

No matter what you’re saying, what language it’s in, or how many times you repeat it the incantation won’t work if you’re not clear on what you’re doing.  That’s why intent matters so much in all spells, it’s so very important to know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish and have it firmly in your mind before you begin, beyond that the only rules are what feels right and what has meaning to you.

Now for the most part incantations are a wonderfully unisex way to practice, but I’m sure there’s someone in the world saying, “Poetry, what guy is caught dead doing poetry?”  My response to that is a simple list of gods who have poetry included in their domain: Odin, Angus Og, and Apollo.  I’m sure there are more, but I don’t know who they are. It’s also worth pointing out that King David was an accomplished poet and wrote the psalms.

A glamour based on a single garment

Ingredients: A garment to use as your focus Thyme, orange peel, dragon’s blood

Glamours are probably one of most used kind of spells when it comes to daily life.  The idea of a glamour was a spell that was used to change your appearance.  It was rarely meant for more than accenting what was already there, although in some stories could be cast as disguises.  These spells were always illusions, and could often be seen through with a magic implement, or looking close enough.

Glamours in modern magic focus a lot more on accenting or hiding different accents of yourself, in much the same way one would contour or grow a beard if they didn’t like the shape of their cheekbones.  Most glamour spells have a focus of either a mirror where you focus on what you want people to see, or something you put on that will work like talisman for your glamour.

Most of the glamour spells I see focus around make up, which for more masculine witches tends to just leave us confused on what to do.  When I do glamours I typically will do a garment with my intention (that one special tie enchanted to accent my confidence and leadership at business meetings), or my razor.  The very ritual act of shaving for me is a daily glamour I do with out really even meaning to.  Remember you’re all beautiful, handsome, what ever adjective helps you feel good about yourself, glamours are just to show the rest of the world what you already have.