How To Write Your Own Spells

Writing your own spells & rituals is a rewarding and fulfilling experience.  If you write your own spell, it holds a special amount of power because of the energy that you put into it.  Before you proceed with reading this section, I highly recommend checking out my article on the Anatomy of a Spell.  This article will familiarize you with the different components to a spell. Did you read the article?  You sure? Okay.  I trust you.  Let’s get started on how to write your own custom spells!  I’ll be using an example of a healing spell as we step through the process, to show you how a spell is created.

Step 1: Define Your Intent

The first thing you need to do when you’re writing a spell is to define the intent behind the spell.  What is the ultimate outcome that you want with this spell?  Your spell will likely fall into one of these general categories: prosperity, love, career, protection, banishing, or healing.  They don’t necessarily HAVE TO fall into one of these categories, and they don’t even have to be confined to one category (though it’s a good idea to keep your spell as specific as possible).

For example, if you’re doing a healing spell, you may also want to add an element of banishing the negative energy around you (or for whomever you’re doing the spell). When I write a spell, I take some time and meditate on the intent of the spell.  Visualizing the outcome as vividly as possible is important.  So for our healing spell, let’s say that we want to make a “general” healing spell (that is, a spell that can be used for anyone who has taken ill rather than a specific healing spell for someone).  So the intent for the spell is to bring healing energy to anyone who is physically ill.

Step 2: Define Your Parameters

Okay, so you know why you want to cast a spell.  The next thing you need to determine is what the parameters of the spell will be.  There are a few things you need to look at for this step.  Some spells are written with very precise parameters, such as what day of the week or what phase of the moon it should be performed.  If you’re just starting out writing your own spells (and you probably are if you’re reading this), then try to keep it somewhat simple at first.  Having said that, I do recommend picking a phase of the moon during which you should perform your spell.

Moon Phases

So what’s so special about the phase of the moon?  A lot, actually.  The Goddess energy is associated with the moon, and because Wicca is very Goddess-centric, the phases of the moon are extremely important, not just in casting spells, but in your day-to-day life.  The moon has four phases: new, waxing, full, and waning.

This image shows the different phases of the moon.
Source: theplanets.org

During the new moon (i.e. when the moon is dark), spells that signify new beginnings and a fresh start should be performed.  The symbolism is rather obvious: the new moon marks a new start in our lives.

The waxing moon (i.e. when the moon is growing “bigger” in the sky) is the time you should perform spells that draw in positive energy, positive changes, love, happiness, good health, etc.

The full moon (i.e. when the moon is at its “biggest” in the sky) is when spells that are about drawing in things you want are at their most effective.  It’s a time for healing, abundance, and positive energy.

Spells that involve letting go, releasing unwanted energy, and banishing should be performed during a waning moon (i.e. when the moon is getting “smaller”).

For our example healing spell, we will indicate that the spell should be performed during a waning moon phase.  But what if the moon is in a waxing phase and you need to perform the spell as soon as possible?  Don’t worry, you can still perform the spell and you will still achieve the result you want.  The phase of the moon, while important, is just a parameter. I have several small bottles of water in my witchcraft supply that were set outside during the different phases of the moon and dedicated to magickal use.  If I need to do a spell that indicates it should be performed during the waning phase but the moon is waxing, I just sprinkle a little of the water around the diameter of the circle I’ve cast.  By doing this, I’m drawing upon the energy of that phase of the moon, because the water holds a kind of “magickal charge.”  You can also do this with sea salt if you so desire.

Day of the week

If you want to get even more specific, each day of the week is associated with different purposes.  In the world of astrology, each day is ruled by a certain planet, and each day also has different deities associated with it from various ancient religions.  There is a great table available on Witchipedia that sorts all of this out quite nicely.  Click here to be taken to that page (it will open in a new tab, so you won’t lose your place here). Adding this optional parameter to your spell will give it an extra “kick,” but it’s far from necessary in order for your spell to work.

Step 3: Define Your Ingredients

We’ve got the intent of the spell dialed in, and we’ve defined our parameters.  Now it’s time to figure out what we’re going to need for this spell.  I usually try to incorporate at least two of the following ingredients in my spells: candles, crystals/gems, oils, and herbs.  For our example spell, we’ll keep it simple and just use candles. Using different colored candles is common when casting spells, as they can represent different aspects of the spell.  Each color has different magickal properties to it, and you can find more detail about that in this section of my site.  Usually, I use two to four candles in a spell.  For our example healing spell, we’ll use a black candle to repel the negative force of the illness, a white candle to bring in the healing and positive energy, and green to aid in the physical healing.  You can also add a fourth candle to represent the person you’re performing this spell for.  Each astrological sign has a color associated with it.

Also note that you can always use a white candle to stand in for ANY color candle if you don’t have it on hand. The other ingredients can be used in many different ways.  For instance, you can rub an essential oil on the candles (or, if you don’t have essential oils, extra virgin olive oil can be used) to add to the magickal intent.  You can mix a few different herbs together to make a custom incense, or you can get a clear quartz crystal (or some other kind of stone with the magickal properties you’re looking for) and consecrate it during the spell, then giving it to the person for whom you worked the spell.

Step 4: Define Your Process

We’re almost there!  You’ve got all the necessary ingredients and you’re ready to go.  The only element left is the incantation, which we’ll explore in the final step.  But before you get to work in writing your incantation, you need to decide how the spell is going to play out.  I write down every step in my Book of Shadows so that I have a playbook by which to conduct the spell.  The first thing you should do is make sure you have all your ingredients and all of the tools you’ll need to work the spell.  This would include your athame, your wand if you use one, and any other tools that you’ll need. Here’s the general outline that I use, and it’s the outline we’ll use in our example spell.

• Place your candles where you want them (they can go anywhere you want; if I’m using four candles, I’ll place one at each direction E, S, W, N)
• Mix any herbs or essential oils
• Write any affirmations on a piece of paper (this is different from the incantation; it can simply be a statement of what you want to happen by performing the spell)
• Light incense & candles
• Recite incantation
• Burn the paper with the affirmations using the flame(s) from the candles
• Meditate, then conclude the spell

Of course, you can modify this process to suit your needs, but I’ve found that it works well for my purposes.

Burning the paper with the affirmations on it is a way to further enhance the entire experience.  You have written down what you want to happen, and you “consecrate” that by burning the paper with fire.  I’ve found that, if nothing else, it helps me in the whole meditation/visualization process.

For our example spell, you would place the four candles at the four directions: black to the east, white to the south, green to the west, and the astro candle to the north.  Our spell doesn’t contain any essential oils or herbal mixtures, so we’ll skip that step.  Then you would take a blank piece of paper and write some affirmations on it.  If you’re doing the spell for yourself, you could put something like “get rid of this flu,” “I am in perfect health,” or whatever comes to mind.

Then, you’d light the candles and recite the incantation.  I usually begin to recite as I light each of the candles, but you don’t have to do it this way.  Then, burn the paper with the affirmations on it.  Make sure you have an ash tray or something on which to place the paper.  Also make sure that you don’t burn your house down; be smart… fire is no joke.

After meditating and visualizing the success of your spell, you would conclude the spell by closing the circle that you cast before beginning.  It’s a good idea to let the candles burn down completely on their own.  Blowing out a candle is seen by some witches as a big no-no, as it “dissipates” the magickal energy created.  If I’m using a 4″ ritual candle, they usually burn out within a few hours, and I let them simply burn out (again, making sure I’m fire-safe about it).  However, if you need to extinguish the flame of the candles, I would recommend snuffing them out.

Step 5:  Define Your Incantation

Now comes the part that is the hardest (unless you’re good at writing poetry) but also the most important part (next to intent) of the spell.  In order to pull all these different pieces together, you need to write an incantation. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but it should clearly state your intent for the spell.  If you’re absolutely unable to write something that rhymes, it can be a non-rhyming incantation, but I highly recommend giving it a shot and trying to write something that rhymes.  I never thought I’d be able to do it, and I’ve written several incantations that don’t sound half bad.

One other thing I like to add either to the beginning or the end is something like “May this spell be for the good of all, harming none,” as this keeps the intent clear that you’re doing this for the ultimate good and not to harm someone (because, well, it’s bad karma to curse someone).

For our example spell, here’s a short and simple incantation:

Sickness, no one bids you stay.
Its time for you to fade away. 
Through this spell I bid you leave, 
By these words which I do weave.

Depending on the length of the incantation, and the steps involved in the spell, I usually recite the incantation three times.  This is just a personal preference; you can recite it as many or as few times as you like.

That’s all there is to it!  If this sounds like a daunting set of tasks, don’t worry… Just do the best you can with what you have.  I may have said this a time or two, but the biggest element in ANY spell is your INTENT.  The rest is just icing on the cake.

If you have questions that remain unanswered about spellcrafting, contact me and I’d be happy to help in any way I can!