Description
This article is from the Spell/Hex
FAQ, by cat cat@luckymojo.com with numerous contributions by
others.
25C Should I create my own spells or follow old ones exactly?
There are many opinions on this matter, and lively
debates have ensued in the newsgroup almost every time
this question has been broached.
"Just because a spell is old, that doesn't mean it
will work" is a truism we have all heard many times.
The inverse -- "Just because a spell was made
up on the spot, that doesn't mean it will work" --
is equally true.
Generally speaking, Neo-Pagans tend to empahasize the
beneftis of creating your own spells while folk-magic
practitioners (root-workers, brujas, and the like)
tend to emphasize the benefits of learning spells
from your elders, or, if that is not possible,
from written accounts of the old-time ways.
One thing both sides agree upon: if you create your
own spells, it is good to have a knowledge-base in
regard to the magical meanings of herbs, roots,
minerals, colours, seals, amulets, astrological
symbols, and the like, and to have practiced a bit
first with written or orally transmitted spells,
to get a feel for how to do the work.
Regarding the improvisation of spells while remaining
true to tradition, cat yronwode (cat@luckymojo.com)
says:
"Each culture (or social sub-culture) seems to have
its own rules, customs, or practices regarding the
workings of magic.
"Some of these customs are found in more than one
culture. For instance, ritual cleaning and bathing
occur in the magic of most cultures, including urban
ceremonial magick (with a k) and Sicilian folk magic
(without a k).
"Other forms of ritual or rule are not as widespread.
For example, foot-track magic (performing magical
operations on others through use of their footprints,
shoes, or by scattering material where they will step
on it) is typically an African magical custom, which is
found also in African-American hoodoo practice, while
evil-eye magic (causing harm by envious glances and/or
working protection spells or curing people thus caused)
is typically a Mediterranean, Adriaitic, Agean, and
Indian practice.
"Basically, once the rules of a given system of magic
are internalized by the practitiioner, a great deal of
improvosation may be done for any given ritual or magical
job of work. The mark of a good magician in his or her
own school of magic is his or her ability -- to borrow
an analogy from music -- to seemlessly improvise a tune
within the chord structure of the system being used."
Continue to:
Share and Enjoy
Bookmark this story so others can enjoy it:
Tags
new-age, paranormal, spiritual, spell, hex, magick, magic
