RITUALS, SPELLS, ETC. Do you prefer to follow the path of those who have gone before or make your own?

[GreatDane]

I sometimes do a combination. I may find something I find interesting and make it my own, make changes to suit me or I just think of something I haven't heard of I want to try.

 

And you? 

[ballerina]

I usually do my own thing but there are people out there with great ideas.  I will sometimes go with one of them.  Why reinvent the wheel?

[GreatDane]

I agree, ballerina.  If something I see or read appeals to me, resonates, I will go with it, although I almost always tweak it a little to suit me.  I think of it as building on the previous path or moving it along :-).  I DO enjoy reading what others do because that is inspiring.  

[ballerina]

I'm with you on the "inspiring".  In the day to day drudge of it we have to get inspired where and when we can.

[vulprix]

I feel way more comfortable with rituals that I build myself from scratch, but I definitely take inspiration from books and other materials from practitioners. 🙂 

[GreatDane]

I understand completely, vulprix.  Our ideas often come from somewhere, even unconsciously.  We may have heard something once, read something. Even novels have inspired ideas in me 🙂

 

I generally just then tend to adjust to me.  I think writing my own spell, intention, whatever you wish to call it, tends to make it more powerful for ME.  Not saying anything wrong with going with someone else's tried and true, just I like to write my own or at least reimagine it for myself.  

[TheFeeLion]

I'm with you on this one @GreatDane spells/rituals and recipes I like to make my own and very rarely I'll follow along exactly as written. I feel I need to put of me into each one and that's much harder to do when you follow things to the letter! 

[GreatDane]

Agreed, TheFeeLion!  I need to feel it's mine, even if I just change it a little.  I have written my own spells, intentions (I think of them as intentions, but a rose by any other name) and they feel more powerful because they're just mine.

[Krislynner]

I tend to write my own spells and rituals but I very much look towards path traditions that resonate, as well as other people’s ideas, for inspiration. By writing my own spells and crafting my own ritual, I feel as if I am building upon that which came before me…if that makes sense. 😊 I love seeing how other people approach their paths!

[Marina]

I do some research in order to get inspiration for my spells. I also use things I have learnt from my grandmother, who is an Umbanda practitioner.

 

But I don't think I have ever used someone else's spell verbatim. I always adapt, specially because I find most book spells presume you have a lot of money for very exclusive ingredients, like specific oils and plants and materials... I like to keep it simple. Few but powerful ingredients and intention.

[DarkMoge]

On 2/3/2021 at 7:16 PM, ballerina said:

I usually do my own thing but there are people out there with great ideas.  I will sometimes go with one of them.  Why reinvent the wheel?

Because my wheel is my own and better wheel ^w^ Did I mention that its my own? Oh and also, making a wheel is a great way to learn how it works. And its my own wheel.

[Tanga]

It's got to have my own flavour to it and language that I understand and am invested in.

Like most - I originally learned some formats from somewhere, so it is a mix 🙃.

[chantelalchemy]

I’m pretty new to witchcraft/magick, but what I usually do is find a spell in the realm of what I want to do, and then I’ll tweak it to make it more personal… but leave the important parts in tact, of course. I really like to write incantations, too. I’ve always loved writing, so it comes pretty easily to me, and it’s fun!

[Raggydoll]

I make my own, but I sometimes include traditional Norse phrases or old expressions. I don’t believe I have ever user a premade spell, and I practice caution when borrowing from ancient ones. 

[Arania]

My own when it really matters to me personally, a combination when I find something interesting or often used or pre-made with maybe some alterations when I want to see what the creator was thinking, or how and why or even if it works. I was actually thinkling of doing a spell study series before (an idea for my journal or blog maybe) where I (and whoever else joins in) test the pre-made spells of those many insta-spellbooks, some of which are way too basic anyway and need some embellishment, just to see how useful they could really be.

 

 

[Raggydoll]

28 minutes ago, Arania said:

My own when it really matters to me personally, a combination when I find something interesting or often used or pre-made with maybe some alterations when I want to see what the creator was thinking, or how and why or even if it works. I was actually thinkling of doing a spell study series before (an idea for my journal or blog maybe) where I (and whoever else joins in) test the pre-made spells of those many insta-spellbooks, some of which are way too basic anyway and need some embellishment, just to see how useful they could really be.

 

 

It’s an interesting thought. Personally, I don’t view a spell as something that is or isn’t powerful. The power is drawn into the work by the practitioner, and then the spell is imbued by power. A spell can be helpful to direct the energy and keep one’s intent, but it’s not necessary. That’s why some witches (or whatever you call a practitioner of magic) are able to work without any physical tools or spells. I also don’t consider a witch to be more or less powerful, they are simply more or less experienced in drawing power from elsewhere, holding it and then manipulating it accordingly. But I understand that other people view this differently. And it would be interesting to follow this experiment, if you go ahead with it!

[Arania]

Yeah I don't need tools, but they are helpful. And there are actually some spells who almost work on their own because generations of people have used them. I've also heard about people who think just copying what's in a book without any real effort would do something. Among thse attempts, some work anyway.

 

I've seen some spell collections which I mostly think are just written to make money, others have some effort in them but fail to mention the advantage of tweaking things to your onw need, or plain out insiting on doing it a specific way.

 

A lot of the issues with pre-made spells (or spell suggestions) is the material listed you supposedly need ignores availiability in your area and doesn't list replacements or mentions how to go about finding replacements. I heard "I can't do this because I can't get material x" so often it is discouraging. Despite any withcraft and magic forum telling beginners that they can substitute, some people just seem to be reluctant to do so.

[Raggydoll]

15 minutes ago, Arania said:

 

 

A lot of the issues with pre-made spells (or spell suggestions) is the material listed you supposedly need ignores availiability in your area and doesn't list replacements or mentions how to go about finding replacements. I heard "I can't do this because I can't get material x" so often it is discouraging. Despite any withcraft and magic forum telling beginners that they can substitute, some people just seem to be reluctant to do so.

I agree. It helps if the practitioner can figure out what the ingredients is used for; what properties it lends to the spell. That way it can almost always be substituted. In many old spells they added many ‘impossible’ ingredients, and I think this just reflects their notion that it should be hard to work certain types of magic. I’m a big proponent of using what you have and drawing in whatever you need. 

[UnicornsAREreal]

I agree in using what is available. Living in Australia, it's hard, if not impossible, (due to distance and our strict importation laws) aquiring certain ingredients, so adaption is kind of nessacery. 

I will adopt ideas that make sense and discard others I can't employ. Basically, for me, it's about experimenting to see what does or doesn't work. 

[Raggydoll]

31 minutes ago, UnicornsAREreal said:

I agree in using what is available. Living in Australia, it's hard, if not impossible, (due to distance and our strict importation laws) aquiring certain ingredients, so adaption is kind of nessacery. 

I will adopt ideas that make sense and discard others I can't employ. Basically, for me, it's about experimenting to see what does or doesn't work. 

For sure. I work with what’s local to me. I live in the northern parts of Scandinavia so many trees and plants do not survive here. For instance, I was over the moon when I came across two oak trees near me. They weren’t in great condition but they were alive and they had acorns. That is rare here. And if I wanted to see a hazel tree, I’d have to go on a several hour long car trip. But it is what it is 😄 And we do have some things that other parts of the world don’t. Like you do in Australia! Every corner of the world has its own unique magic and it shouldn’t be overlooked. 

[DanielJUK]

I would have thought in ancient times and also more recent historic times that people made spells with the ingredients local to them.

The problem now is getting books or finding resources online with spells and rituals with ingredients that are not local to us. Some rare ingredient that you can only get in a forest in Canada, won't be easy for us in Europe 🙂 .

 

There was an interesting older thread posted about buying crystal gemstones and that it's a very unethical trade from the countries which mines or sources them and then sent around the world.

 

Perhaps looking for what we can do, where we are is an important factor in all of this 🙂

[Raggydoll]

25 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

I would have thought in ancient times and also more recent historic times that people made spells with the ingredients local to them.

The problem now is getting books or finding resources online with spells and rituals with ingredients that are not local to us. Some rare ingredient that you can only get in a forest in Canada, won't be easy for us in Europe 🙂 .

 

There was an interesting older thread posted about buying crystal gemstones and that it's a very unethical trade from the countries which mines or sources them and then sent around the world.

 

Perhaps looking for what we can do, where we are is an important factor in all of this 🙂

Indeed. For healing work it would make little sense to use rare or foreign ingredients. I remember as a kid when I had bug bites or a nettle rash, dad would go and pick the plants fresh to treat it. I have found that seasonal ailments tend to have seasonally available cures. And there is also something to be said about the wisdom and the memory of the local plants. I believe that the spirits of place will remember previous acts of healing, and this information can be tapped into. 

[Arania]

I'm really blessed to live near the only European gemstone mine. We can even find stuff in the hills here. Our garden wind altar hill is covered in gemstone waste splinters we got for free. It's partly overgrown now and looks amazing.

 

Not that I work all that much with crystals, I am just using them more now that I can get them for reasonable prices from the source.

[akiva]

43 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

The problem now is getting books or finding resources online with spells and rituals with ingredients that are not local to us. Some rare ingredient that you can only get in a forest in Canada, won't be easy for us in Europe 🙂 .

One way to combat hard to get ingredients is to look at the planetary correspondences for plants/minerals/ingredients and substitute the rare and hard to find ones with ones that are local to the practitioners. 

 

There's a good book called The Rulership Book by Rex E. Bills that's full of correspondences for the planets and materials they're associated with.

I'm not sure if it covers all plants/herbs, but I remember things like eggs and hyssop being associated with the Moon, and butter being associated with Venus... Buttery love spell anyone? 🤣

 

I think in older times they would of used the medieval humours to do so as well, if one ingredient is hot/dry then it could be substituted with another hot/dry ingredient 😊

[Raggydoll]

7 minutes ago, akiva said:

One way to combat hard to get ingredients is to look at the planetary correspondences for plants/minerals/ingredients and substitute the rare and hard to find ones with ones that are local to the practitioners. 

 

There's a good book called The Rulership Book by Rex E. Bills that's full of correspondences for the planets and materials they're associated with.

I'm not sure if it covers all plants/herbs, but I remember things like eggs and hyssop being associated with the Moon, and butter being associated with Venus... Buttery love spell anyone? 🤣

 

I think in older times they would of used the medieval humours to do so as well, if one ingredient is hot/dry then it could be substituted with another hot/dry ingredient 😊

Another method that’s been used for a long time here, is to take into account where something grew or where it was found. For  example, they used to diagnose people with rocks that were picked in different places. So they’d take a water rock and an earth rock and an air rock, a fire rock and possibly a tree rock etc. Then they’d have the patient sit high over a bucket of boiling water, and the rocks were carefully placed in the water. Whatever rock(s) cracked held the clue to which element was the cause of the ailment. They’d later use those same rocks to return the illness to where it came from. Similar principles were used to classify the energy of other things as well.