here is how to cast a spell. (quick writeup of a talk i gave at DunCon)
Short Version 1. have an intention for change. 2. take a symbolic action representing the change.
that’s it. that’s all you need. but also, if you want to do it more:
Long Version
Prep
1. get your guts/intuition/S1/unconscious in touch with your intention somehow, and work through any tangles you find.
2. choose a symbolic action representing (and ideally participating in) the change you want, and design your spell around that. to find the right action, try this thought experiment: one day you wake up, and find you’re living in the future where you’ve completely succeeded at getting the thing you want. you stretch and open your eyes. what’s the very first thing that tips you off that something’s different?
3. when it’s time, lay out your materials and do any other physical/logistical prep work.
The Spell Itself
4. dedicate a sacred space (aka “cast a circle”). for example, carry incense around the space three times, or pour a circle of oats, or just move stuff out of the way. maybe ask something that vibes with protection and/or sacredness for you to help (such as a nearby river, or the memory of your grandfather).
5. raise energy. this means, do something that requires effort and focus and that invites your unconscious to the party while getting it engaged with the materials of your spell. maybe chant something relevant, or hold your hands over the magic herbs while pretending you can pour your intention into them. this is not the symbolic action; it just prepares you for the symbolic action.
6. release energy (that is, cast the spell). take the symbolic action you’ve planned. cut the string, drink the potion, burn the paper, whatever.
Conclude
7. seal the spell. do something that means “i’m now on the other side, in the post-spell world”. the wiccans say “so mote it be”. the christians say “amen”. if your spell involved a jar, you could literally seal it with wax. i once did a spell involving a pair of earrings, which i sealed by putting the earrings on.
8. ground. “return excess energy to the earth.” do something that gradually brings you back to a more ordinary state of mind. maybe imagine roots reaching down from your body deep into the earth and pretend you can equalize with the ground by sending your breath down and up those roots. or shake yourself like a wet dog. or eat a piece of cake.
9. release the space. thank whatever helped you cast the circle, then take an action that’s the reverse of whatever you did to dedicate the space. walk the circle backward, or put all the furniture back.
Reinforce
10. choose at least one concrete action to take in line with your intention, and take that action. bonus points if it’s a repeated action, like “every sunday i’ll call my mom”
now, obviously 10 is the physical mechanism by which a change might happen in the physical world. but i recommend trying to answer for yourself, “how could including 1-9 possibly be superior in some way to jumping straight to 10?”
Hypnotic Framing
one more model of spellcasting: a spell is a self-hypnosis script.
standard hypnosis has 6 parts: 1. pre-talk 2. an induction 3. a deepener (sometimes) 4. a suggestion(s) (pre- or post-hypnotic) 5. an awakener 6. following a post-hypnotic suggestion if one was given
In the Long Version above,
1-3 is pre-talk, 4 is an induction 5 is a deepener 6 and 7 are a post-hypnotic suggestion 8 and 9 are awakeners 10 is following the post-hypnotic suggestion.
It seems reasonable to mention that I know of many who have started doing “spells” like this, with a rationalized “oh I’m just hypnotizing myself, I don’t actually believe in magic” framing who then start to go off the deep-end and start actually believing in magic.
That’s not to say this happens in every case or even in most cases. Its also not to say that hypnotizing yourself can’t be useful sometimes. But it is to say that if you find this tempting to do because you really like the idea of magic existing in real life, I suggest you re-readsome partsof the sequences.
(you also may want to look into other ways of improving your conscientiousness if you’re struggling with that. Things like todo systems, or daily planners, or simply regularly trying hard things)
I asked Chat GPT 4o to generate ten spells that followed this structure.
I thought you’d enjoy that it started with “Love this—genuinely rich and resonant structure. It’s like a UX flowchart for engaging the numinous.”
The rest:
1. The Invitation of Belonging
Intention: To feel more welcomed and connected in a new place or group.
Symbolic Action: Write your name on a slip of paper and add it to a bowl of salt and water—symbols of preservation and life. Say, “I belong here.” Stir clockwise three times.
2. The Unbinding
Intention: To let go of a limiting belief or relationship.
Symbolic Action: Write the belief/person’s name on a strip of fabric. Tie it in knots while stating how it has bound you. Then untie it slowly, naming each thing you’re reclaiming as you release.
3. The Becoming Mirror
Intention: To become more aligned with a version of yourself you admire.
Symbolic Action: Look in a mirror and say three sentences your future self might say with pride. Then smudge the mirror with water or breath—blurring the boundary—before cleaning it clear again.
4. The Thread of Desire
Intention: To move closer to something you deeply want.
Symbolic Action: Wind a red thread around your wrist, naming each step you’ll take. Knot the end and say, “I’m already on the path.” Keep it on until the first step is done.
5. The Hearthlight
Intention: To cultivate safety and warmth at home.
Symbolic Action: Light a candle in the heart of your home. Whisper or sing to it what you want your home to feel like. Let it burn down safely or snuff it with breath, saying “Let this warmth remain.”
6. The Boundary Mark
Intention: To enforce or clarify personal boundaries.
Symbolic Action: Draw a chalk line or sprinkle a ring of something tactile (salt, stones) around you. Stand within and say what is welcome and what is not. Step out and sweep the circle inward, sealing the clarity within.
7. The Echo Letter
Intention: To be heard or seen by someone who’s not hearing you.
Symbolic Action: Write them a letter, then fold it up and whisper into it. Burn it in a bowl (or tear and bury it), saying, “I am heard by the universe if not by you.”
8. The Rain Jar
Intention: To invite new growth, creativity, or love.
Symbolic Action: Collect rainwater or use tap water with intention. Add one small thing to the jar for each thing you want to grow (herb, glitter, flower petal). Shake gently. Say, “I nourish what I call in.”
9. The Coin Toss
Intention: To make a hard decision with clarity.
Symbolic Action: Assign options to each side of a coin. Flip it—and notice your gut reaction before you even look. Then look. Keep or change course, but mark the choice by placing the coin on a small altar.
10. The Walking Spell
Intention: To move through grief, stuckness, or indecision.
Symbolic Action: Walk in a straight line for 10 minutes without turning back. With each step, name one thing you’re leaving behind. When you’re done, pick up a stone or leaf to mark your new path.
Want me to design printable versions or visual scripts for any of these? Or riff variations based on different archetypes (the Scholar’s spell vs. the Trickster’s vs. the Guardian’s)?
btw, although i’ve read a lot of witchy books at this point, this specific framework is most heavily influenced by the book “Spellcrafting” by Arin Murphy-Hiscock.
An aspect where I expect further work to pay off is stuff related to self-visualization, which is fairly powerful (e.g. visualizing yourself doing something for 10 hours will generally go a really long way to getting you there, and for the 10 hour thing it’s more a question of what to do when something goes wrong enough to make the actul events sufficiently different from what you imagined, and how to do it in less than 10 hours).
here is how to cast a spell. (quick writeup of a talk i gave at DunCon)
Short Version
1. have an intention for change.
2. take a symbolic action representing the change.
that’s it. that’s all you need. but also, if you want to do it more:
Long Version
Prep
1. get your guts/intuition/S1/unconscious in touch with your intention somehow, and work through any tangles you find.
2. choose a symbolic action representing (and ideally participating in) the change you want, and design your spell around that. to find the right action, try this thought experiment: one day you wake up, and find you’re living in the future where you’ve completely succeeded at getting the thing you want. you stretch and open your eyes. what’s the very first thing that tips you off that something’s different?
3. when it’s time, lay out your materials and do any other physical/logistical prep work.
The Spell Itself
4. dedicate a sacred space (aka “cast a circle”). for example, carry incense around the space three times, or pour a circle of oats, or just move stuff out of the way. maybe ask something that vibes with protection and/or sacredness for you to help (such as a nearby river, or the memory of your grandfather).
5. raise energy. this means, do something that requires effort and focus and that invites your unconscious to the party while getting it engaged with the materials of your spell. maybe chant something relevant, or hold your hands over the magic herbs while pretending you can pour your intention into them. this is not the symbolic action; it just prepares you for the symbolic action.
6. release energy (that is, cast the spell). take the symbolic action you’ve planned. cut the string, drink the potion, burn the paper, whatever.
Conclude
7. seal the spell. do something that means “i’m now on the other side, in the post-spell world”. the wiccans say “so mote it be”. the christians say “amen”. if your spell involved a jar, you could literally seal it with wax. i once did a spell involving a pair of earrings, which i sealed by putting the earrings on.
8. ground. “return excess energy to the earth.” do something that gradually brings you back to a more ordinary state of mind. maybe imagine roots reaching down from your body deep into the earth and pretend you can equalize with the ground by sending your breath down and up those roots. or shake yourself like a wet dog. or eat a piece of cake.
9. release the space. thank whatever helped you cast the circle, then take an action that’s the reverse of whatever you did to dedicate the space. walk the circle backward, or put all the furniture back.
Reinforce
10. choose at least one concrete action to take in line with your intention, and take that action. bonus points if it’s a repeated action, like “every sunday i’ll call my mom”
now, obviously 10 is the physical mechanism by which a change might happen in the physical world. but i recommend trying to answer for yourself, “how could including 1-9 possibly be superior in some way to jumping straight to 10?”
Hypnotic Framing
one more model of spellcasting: a spell is a self-hypnosis script.
standard hypnosis has 6 parts:
1. pre-talk
2. an induction
3. a deepener (sometimes)
4. a suggestion(s) (pre- or post-hypnotic)
5. an awakener
6. following a post-hypnotic suggestion if one was given
In the Long Version above,
1-3 is pre-talk,
4 is an induction
5 is a deepener
6 and 7 are a post-hypnotic suggestion
8 and 9 are awakeners
10 is following the post-hypnotic suggestion.
It seems reasonable to mention that I know of many who have started doing “spells” like this, with a rationalized “oh I’m just hypnotizing myself, I don’t actually believe in magic” framing who then start to go off the deep-end and start actually believing in magic.
That’s not to say this happens in every case or even in most cases. Its also not to say that hypnotizing yourself can’t be useful sometimes. But it is to say that if you find this tempting to do because you really like the idea of magic existing in real life, I suggest you re-read some parts of the sequences.
(you also may want to look into other ways of improving your conscientiousness if you’re struggling with that. Things like todo systems, or daily planners, or simply regularly trying hard things)
I asked Chat GPT 4o to generate ten spells that followed this structure.
I thought you’d enjoy that it started with “Love this—genuinely rich and resonant structure. It’s like a UX flowchart for engaging the numinous.”
The rest:
1. The Invitation of Belonging
Intention: To feel more welcomed and connected in a new place or group.
Symbolic Action: Write your name on a slip of paper and add it to a bowl of salt and water—symbols of preservation and life. Say, “I belong here.” Stir clockwise three times.
2. The Unbinding
Intention: To let go of a limiting belief or relationship.
Symbolic Action: Write the belief/person’s name on a strip of fabric. Tie it in knots while stating how it has bound you. Then untie it slowly, naming each thing you’re reclaiming as you release.
3. The Becoming Mirror
Intention: To become more aligned with a version of yourself you admire.
Symbolic Action: Look in a mirror and say three sentences your future self might say with pride. Then smudge the mirror with water or breath—blurring the boundary—before cleaning it clear again.
4. The Thread of Desire
Intention: To move closer to something you deeply want.
Symbolic Action: Wind a red thread around your wrist, naming each step you’ll take. Knot the end and say, “I’m already on the path.” Keep it on until the first step is done.
5. The Hearthlight
Intention: To cultivate safety and warmth at home.
Symbolic Action: Light a candle in the heart of your home. Whisper or sing to it what you want your home to feel like. Let it burn down safely or snuff it with breath, saying “Let this warmth remain.”
6. The Boundary Mark
Intention: To enforce or clarify personal boundaries.
Symbolic Action: Draw a chalk line or sprinkle a ring of something tactile (salt, stones) around you. Stand within and say what is welcome and what is not. Step out and sweep the circle inward, sealing the clarity within.
7. The Echo Letter
Intention: To be heard or seen by someone who’s not hearing you.
Symbolic Action: Write them a letter, then fold it up and whisper into it. Burn it in a bowl (or tear and bury it), saying, “I am heard by the universe if not by you.”
8. The Rain Jar
Intention: To invite new growth, creativity, or love.
Symbolic Action: Collect rainwater or use tap water with intention. Add one small thing to the jar for each thing you want to grow (herb, glitter, flower petal). Shake gently. Say, “I nourish what I call in.”
9. The Coin Toss
Intention: To make a hard decision with clarity.
Symbolic Action: Assign options to each side of a coin. Flip it—and notice your gut reaction before you even look. Then look. Keep or change course, but mark the choice by placing the coin on a small altar.
10. The Walking Spell
Intention: To move through grief, stuckness, or indecision.
Symbolic Action: Walk in a straight line for 10 minutes without turning back. With each step, name one thing you’re leaving behind. When you’re done, pick up a stone or leaf to mark your new path.
Want me to design printable versions or visual scripts for any of these? Or riff variations based on different archetypes (the Scholar’s spell vs. the Trickster’s vs. the Guardian’s)?
btw, although i’ve read a lot of witchy books at this point, this specific framework is most heavily influenced by the book “Spellcrafting” by Arin Murphy-Hiscock.
An aspect where I expect further work to pay off is stuff related to self-visualization, which is fairly powerful (e.g. visualizing yourself doing something for 10 hours will generally go a really long way to getting you there, and for the 10 hour thing it’s more a question of what to do when something goes wrong enough to make the actul events sufficiently different from what you imagined, and how to do it in less than 10 hours).