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I guess there are many ways to cast spells, but as I think I may have mentioned before, I don't do spells. The only times I have, have been with candles.

I've lit candles before just because I wanted a light candle while taking a bath, or while in my room, or whatever. There was a day or two when, after my bath, I was about to blow out the candle and I thought....It was a thought, because it was not aloud, yet it was a prayer... a "Thank you" to the goddess for letting me have such a wonderful relationship with my boyfriend and hoping, asking, that we can keep this relationship. This is just one example of very few.

I wonder, does this count as a spell?

I agree - casting is simply a process that candles and what-not aid in. The process is not physical itself (only in my opinion), so if you've got some focus and emotion driving your wish, that's all you really need.

In fact, I am so into understanding the self because I believe it is possible to cast on accident. exclaim It is a process that is soley yours.

Definitely not. Note that there was no energy raised, there was no will or focus. It's not a spell by any stretch of the imagination. It was a prayer. A prayer with action - in this case blowing out a candle - might be considered a ritual, though a very simple one.

I don't think you quite understand the level of focus and will required. Spellwork is not something that happens by accident. It is an intentional act. You need to focus on your desire, not on an object. Objects are meant to facilitate things, that's all. You take energy - and not just a little bit, you have to have a fair amount, so there has to be some sort of raising of energy... this can happen with meditation but doesn't necessarily - and apply your will to it. So it's not just a little bit of will, either. There needs to be definite concentration.

You can't just sit and wish something and pretend that's a spell. It's not. In this case, she wasn't even wishing something. She was speaking to deity. She was not causing change in conformity with will. Not a spell.

I don't understand why you think I'm questioning the validity of her actions. She asked if it was a spell, and I answered her correctly. Calling an act a spell doesn't make it more or less valid, you know. It was a perfectly fine little ritual action and you don't need to falsely name it "spell" in order make it more meaningful.

A spell is what you do yourself. A prayer is when you ask a deity to do something for you.

Sanguina-chan:
I very much agree that casting is to cause change in conformity with will, and I understand casting quite well, as I view it as being capable of being a perpetual process that one doesn't have to stop doing - ever, but I guess we just come from different directions of thought.

There are an aweful lot of things that affect our energy levels, for example, sitting in a bathtub concentrating on an emotion and a wish. It is no stretch to think that we could accumulate enough energy to make a change without even realizing it, and should we happen to focus on one desire throughout the day, and concentrate on the manifestation of this desire, then we have have successfully and accidently just casted. I would like to prompt the question of: Is a spell something that enables casting, or is it something that refines a process people do daily?

As far as objects go, I feel they hold two purposes: environmental and symbolic. To focus the manifestation of your will into a tool is the symbolic form I speak of. So if the candle to her represented her burning will, then putting it out may have very well represented her energy being released into the universe, and if this candle did hold this symbolism for her, then concentrating on the candle is no different to her mind than concentrating on her will, which she happened to keep in mind as she was doing this also.

Perhaps this will be a good candidate for a debate forum once we get one.

Mistreena:
I would like to make a friendly suggestion of: See your will blossoming. See your desire unfolding and manifesting. Also, a problem I had way back when I started was I saw the candle as just a candle.

They do indeed ^_^ I think of that as prayer within a spell - for example, asking the deity to bless the working or lend some of their energy to your purposes if they choose to do so.

Now, I have a real issue with many of those spellbooks, not because they include deities in the spells, but because of the way they treat those deities. They - not all, but most - have a tendency to treat the gods as an ingredient. "face east, light candle, invoke Mercury". I consider it both highly disrespectful and rather foolhardy to "use" the gods in such a way. Many casters probably don't disrespect the deities they pray to, but the spells and books are written in such a way that there's no... no understanding that a good relationship must be built with a deity before asking for a boon in such a way. They say "for a love spell, invoke Aphrodite" as if you can just do this without having met her before. Now, Aphrodite is a lovely goddess with a longer temper than many Greek deities but even she will have a limit, and this sort of thing isn't a good idea at all. Many "spell backfires" people experience are probably a result of this disrespect rather than actual problems in casting.

This sort of thing also has problems in that it reduces the gods to their areas of influence. Thor may be a god of thunder, but anyone who knows him knows that that's only one element of who he is, and you can't understand him as a deity and as a person just by that sort of thing.

So the issue isn't in involving deities in spells, but that it has a tendency to encourage that sort of disrespect. I know some people like a deity to bless their spellwork... I do not. If a spell has been prompted by something a deity has said or similar, I might mention them, but yeah.... Like I said, it's a prayer within a spell, more than anything else ^_^ I'm a fan of prayer, myself, so I see nothing much wrong with asking a deity for something once in a while. I'm just not likely to do so in a spell setting.

There's also the danger that you rely on the deity to do it. The deity may bless the spell, but the spell is yours - if you don't put in the energy and the effort, the deity may have blessed it, but it's not going to do much. I forget who said it now... but there's some author or other who warns against saying things like "if the Goddess wills it". A spell is not about "if the Goddess wills it". If she doesn't will it, it's not likely to happen anyway, and an important aspect of a spell is your certainty, your will, and your desire. This will happen, because you would have it so.

Oh! I found it! It's at Wicca for the Rest of Us. Check it out.



You have to release it at the end, but yeah, pretty much. wink Candles are good tools to use, because you can rest your eyes on them and they encourage concentration and focus. But yeah, they're a tool... that's why people tend to have them in a variety of different colours. Colours speak to our subconscious, which is why they feature in lists of correspondences. They're also a psychological thing rather than a personal symbol. They affect our emotions, our energies, in ways similar to... to aromatherapy, really. Pastel colours actually make you physically weaker, for example. So for love, a pink candle might work... or red, if you're going for passion. It helps your subconscious focus on your desire.

This is an area where a simple circle may help. I don't use them often myself but they're handy when learning spellwork, because all the energy stays within the circle rather than dissipating at the edges, which is what tends to happen otherwise. You can raise energy various ways... emotion is a good one but not encouraged by everyone (for example, some witches influenced by Neo-Wicca are really anti- magic raised by emotions, something to do with the threefold law or something). I'm a fan of dancing, actually. Other people like chants - I recommend finding or writing one relevant to your purpose so that it doesn't distract your focus. You raise the energy until you feel it peak, and then you shove your will down onto it and cut it loose and off it goes to achieve its purpose. Cunningham actually describes it quite well in "Living Wicca", if I recall correctly. Could be wrong, though.

That's the basics - energy, will, focus. How you achieve all this is what distinguishes one witch from another. Me, I'm a low-magic sort of girl. I don't use many tools beyond a piece of string or the odd candle and frankly couldn't care what the phase of the moon was. Some people like the Ceremonial sort of thing and start with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, stones, herbs, incense, sword, and 500 candles. It's personal preference; you like candles, so by all means, research candle spells and see what sort of things you prefer. They're quite popular, actually, so you should have a fair amount of sources to draw from and see what sorts of candle spells click with you ^_^

Oh... and if I offended you, that was never my intention ^_^ You asked a question and I did my best to answer it as fully as I could. I may have come across blunt or disrespectful and I really didn't mean to heart There's certainly nothing wrong with what you did, I think candle rituals like that are lovely. I have a big collection of little tea lights with deities' names on them that I light when I pray from time to time - I nabbed the idea from the Catholics xd

Wow that is a heck of a lot of advice biggrin Thanks! I don't doubt it's good in the least.
I do realise that gods and goddesses aren't tools, but I never really thought of making a connection with them before asking them for help, etc.
So how would one "get to know" a god or goddess?

And yes, you did come off as blunt, but it's alright. I now understand your feelings and what you mean by your statements. No problem! heart Thank you for all this great advice! I'll definitely be sure to follow it, and take more time to research different candle spells and such, mas well ^_^

I had another thought regarding this the other day. I still stand by my original answer as it is what is valid for me, as a hedge witch.

The answer though is far more complicated. There exists systems of magic. Various styles that can be very simple, which is the style I use, or very complex like that of high magic.

To the simpler systems of magic it qualifies as a spell, to the more complex it may not. Each system has its own perspective on how magic works. I think it works in several different ways all which come down to psychology. Each system is designed to work for a certain type of mind and what it takes to get that mind into the place it needs to be for magic to occur.