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The Book of Shadows
If we lived in an ideal world and there was magic to be made, we would
open a circle every time and invite the four elements to bless and witness
our magic making. This is done by lighting a candle to honour each of
them. To do this, light a candle in each quarter of your sacred space – one
in the east to represent air, one in the south to represent fire, one in the
west to represent water and one in the north to represent earth. A fifth
candle, representing spirit, is put in the middle of the circle.
As you light the east candle say:
I call upon the element of air to be present and to bless the work to
be done.
Hold the candle to the east for a moment and say:
Hail and welcome!
Set the candle in its holder in the appropriate quarter. Repeat this with
each of the other four candles, asking each element for its presence and
blessing.
If you can do this, your spells will be all the more effective. But there are
times in all our lives when the demands of time make this impractical.
But if you can’t, try and adapt the spells to suit the time available. The
most important thing in making magic is a deeply held belief that it will
work, and sincerity.
In giving the recipes for the spells that follow, rather than preface each
one with, ‘Cast the circle and perform the usual opening rituals,’ we will
in most cases assume that this has been done, unless time is of the
essence and you make the decision to go ahead and cast a shortened
version of the spell.
Similarly, instead of repeating, ‘Put the essential oil in an oil burner,
place it on the altar and light it, so that its fragrant fumes fill the air and
add potency to your magic’, where an essential oil is included in the
ingredients of a spell, or plays a more active role – being used to anoint
a candle, for example – please take it as read.
All the ingredients used should be suitably consecrated and arranged on
your altar. Some of them – crystals, for example – may play no obviously
active part in the magic, but they add power to the spell being cast
because of their association with the purpose of the spell. As with so
much concerning magic making, altar decoration is very personal.
Unless certain oils, crystals and the other accoutrements involved in
strengthening spells are specified, use ones that have associations with
the purpose of the spell or that you know work well for you.
Talismans and amulets have not been listed. These are so personal to the
magic maker that it is up to them which ones are used for the spell being
cast.
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