The Modern Guide to Witchcraft (11 page)

Sex magick can be great fun, but that’s not its purpose. In simple terms, it’s a way to supercharge your magickal work and generate results faster. According to sex magick’s tenets, this creative force, which is responsible for all human and animal life, can be directed to create abundance, success, healing, spiritual growth, and so on—like other types of magick. It taps the powerful creative energy inherent in sexual activity for specific purposes other than human reproduction. Some witches engage in sex magick, others don’t. It can be added to any other form of witchcraft, magick, or spiritual practice, and can be done by anyone. (For more information, see my book
Sex Magic for Beginners
.)

When people hear the word
voodoo
, they often envision dolls stuck with pins, zombies, and hideous rituals carried out secretly in darkness. But voudon (or voodoo) is simply a belief system. First brought to Haiti by African slaves sometime during the sixteenth century, it emerged in Louisiana 200 years later.

Voudon involves the interaction of humans with spirits. Numerous deities and spirits play parts in voudon’s elaborate rituals and spells. In a traditional voudon ceremony, worshippers work themselves into a frenzy through music, chanting, and dancing, sometimes accompanied by various forms of drugs and alcohol. During an altered state of consciousness, they become possessed by one of the spirits and collapse to the ground, writhing and speaking unintelligibly. Once possessed, a worshipper is believed to be able to bring about a cure, good fortune, or some other desire. In some instances, animal sacrifices might be offered to the spirits to win their favor.

The dark side of voudon, however, has captured the public’s imagination. Some practitioners, it’s said, turn the dead into zombies—reanimated corpses who are slaves without wills of their own. The extremes of voudon’s black magick can include all the stuff of horror movies, including control over others, ritual murders, and cannibalism.

Often referred to as a Cuban mystery religion, the word
santería
literally means “the worship of saints.” A blend of Catholicism and Nigerian Paganism that evolved centuries ago, when Yoruba slaves were taken from Nigeria to Cuba, santería consists of a pantheon of
orishas
who are a combination of Catholic saints and Yoruba gods and goddesses. If you were raised Catholic you might find this colorful tradition intriguing, a way to incorporate witchcraft into the religious training and experience you already have.

When a man joins the religion and becomes a
santero
(or
santera,
if she’s female), he agrees to “worship the saints, to observe their feasts, obey their commands, and conduct their rituals,” writes Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, author of
The Santería Experience
. “In exchange for this absolute submission, he gains supernatural powers, protection against evil, and the ability to foresee the future and even to shape the future according to his will.”

Casting spells and practicing witchcraft are part of a
santero
’s work. A
santero
often keeps icons or statues of the
orishas
and other saints on his altar, along with flowers, a bowl of water, and a bottle of Florida water (a type of cheap cologne used in many of the spells). The darker side of santería, known as mayomberia, is a type of black magick.

Of course, many other types of witchcraft and magickal practices exist around the world. The Polynesian spiritual path known as Huna teaches you to unite three aspects of yourself and channel your primal energy to bring about the results you desire. Practitioners of the ancient Chinese art of feng shui (pronounced
fung shway
) use a form of magick when they make changes in your home and workplace in order to attract money, love, health, etc. Wherever you go, you’ll find people performing magick and doing witchcraft—even if they don’t always call it that.

The Buddha once said, “Wherever you live is your temple if you treat it like one.” Sacredness is more a matter of attitude and behavior than of trappings, and it doesn’t require a building or props. Nonetheless, creating a sacred space is an important part of practicing magick, and witches often use tools and processes to establish safe havens in which to work.

Sacred space is an area you’ve cleansed of distractions and energy that you don’t want to interfere with your magickal work. Within this purified zone you may choose to meditate, make offerings, and conduct spells or rituals. If you are lucky enough to have a temple or dedicated worship space in your home, then that is your permanent sacred space.

You’ve probably heard of magick circles. What makes sacred space different from a circle? A circle is a consciously constructed area that partially overlaps both our material world and the divine world. The resulting region is said to be “between the worlds,” not wholly in one or the other. Sacred space is a place of peace and calm, but it is not necessarily “between the worlds.” Sacred space is what goes into the circle, or it can simply exist on its own.

When you’re in your sacred space you can still interact with the world beyond it—it doesn’t set up a barrier the way a circle does. When you use sacred space, you make the existing environment holy, as opposed to creating a whole new surrounding. You remain open to the good energies in the area instead of sealing yourself away from them.

Sacred space is a wonderful alternative to a circle if you seek to create a harmonious atmosphere for a family gathering, particularly if the attendees are of mixed spiritualities or if the space you are using is unfamiliar to you. You can create it without anyone else’s knowledge by purifying and harmonizing the energy of the area. You remove distracting, harmful, or stale energy and leave a positive, comfortable feeling instead.

Creating sacred space for other people who may not share your beliefs does not manipulate them in any way, nor does it disrespect their own religion. You are offering them a peaceful and balanced environment in which to study, discuss, eat, or mingle. Try creating sacred space before a dinner gathering during the week, when everyone is tired and stressed out. Watch how everyone relaxes in the serene energy.

Creating sacred space includes four basic steps. The process takes place both inside you and outside, both in your mind and in a physical space.

• Create
  : This means eliminating thoughts, feelings, and energies that would distract you, so that your psyche is calm and all those everyday annoyances have been left behind.
  
• Cleanse
  : Clean up the area you will be using so that you have a tidy, pleasant place in which to work.
  
• Purify
  : This is the magickal counterpart to cleansing. Purification removes negative energy.
  
• Consecrate
  : This step involves blessing the space in some fashion.
  

From here you can go on to cast a circle if you so desire, or if your ritual requires it. (You’ll learn how later in this chapter.) Otherwise, you’re ready to begin doing whatever you choose to do within the sacred space you’ve created with these four steps.

Before you perform any magick spells or rituals, you need to calm your spirit and your mind. Begin by putting aside your daily concerns and taking a few minutes to relax your body. Your goal is to shift your thinking and feeling from ordinary consciousness to a more serene and elevated consciousness. Giving yourself just five minutes to meditate will help you get in the right frame of mind to create sacred space.

Cleansing the physical space where you will work removes the distraction caused by dirt and clutter. Physical clutter and dust create chaotic energy, as any feng shui expert will attest. Cleansing also signifies your intention to honor this space and make it special. Sweep the floor with a regular broom and dustpan, clear off your altar or workspace, and tidy the general area. Put away loose papers, piles of books, clothes, toys, and other clutter from the area. Once you’ve removed the physical clutter, clean and polish the surfaces.

Cleanse yourself, too. Some witches like to take a relaxing bath or shower before a ritual. Although this step technically focuses on physical cleansing, it also helps you to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself to do magick.

In this step, you purify yourself and the area where you’ll be working. Cleansing deals with physical dirt; purification gets rid of the negative energy that clutters up an area. You can do this by sweeping in a counterclockwise motion with a besom (a witch’s broom). If you enjoy aromatherapy, spritz some lavender scent into the air or burn your favorite calming incense. Some witches prefer to burn a smudge stick and waft the smoke around the area. Others sprinkle small amounts of salt in the space. Or, you can simply visualize a ball of white light materializing in the center, then growing outward and driving away negativity.

Once both you and your ritual space have been physically cleansed and spiritually purified, you’re ready to consecrate the space. To consecrate means to sanctify, and this is the definitive step that makes the space sacred.

One way to do this is to bring into your space the energies of the four elements we discussed in
Chapter 5
. Choose an object that represents each element; for example, a candle could symbolize the fire element, a stone could signify earth, a bowl of water could stand for the element of water, and a smoking stick of incense could bring in the air element.

Here’s another method: Stand in the center of the area and feel yourself drawing up energy from the earth beneath your feet into the center of your body. Next, connect with the energy of the sky and sense it flowing down into the center of your body. Allow these two energies to mingle within you—feel them swirling around and blending in your core—then envision yourself radiating this dual energy outward until it fills the space. Stop the flow of energy from both sky and earth when you sense that your sacred space is filled.

Sacred space does not need to be dismantled, as a circle does, when you’ve finished your magickal working. You can leave it and come back whenever you choose, knowing that your sanctuary awaits you. To signal that your work here is finished, simply say something like, “This [ritual/spell/meditation] is ended. I go in peace.” How long does sacred space last? It depends on where you created it. If your sacred space is in a room of your home, its sanctity will linger longer than if you set up a temporary space in a public mall. The more often you use this space, the more you reinforce its sanctity.

Since ancient times, circles have symbolized both power and protection. When you cast a circle, you’re working on several levels simultaneously. At a physical level you’re defining the boundaries for your work, and on a spiritual level you’re filling the space with your personal power. Modern witches still perform spells and rituals within a circle. Group work, especially gatherings and public rituals, frequently takes place in a circular sacred space. The circle represents unity, accord, and wholeness. It provides a protective psychic “fence” that keeps unwanted energies out and desired energies in, until you’re ready to release them. A circle also shows that each person present is important to the success of the magickal working.