Magic, sometimes spelled with the "k" to show that it is different from sleight-of-hand, is most often used by Wiccans in rituals. As Catala has said so well, rituals are ceremonies to thank the God and Goddess for blessings and to connect with the God and the Goddess. In the ritual circle, healings may be performed, blessings asked for, and thanks given for all that is good.

What is the "ritual circle"? you ask. That is referring to the magic circle, a circle made to keep nasty beasties out of the ritual while magic is going on. It is a circle of protection. It marks the boundary of the space being used for the ritual. It is cast by taking an appropriate tool and walking the perimeter of the circle, invoking the elements as the caster goes. The circle is cast in a clockwise, or deosil, direction, and is banished at the end of the ritual by walking counterclockwise, or widdershins, and dismissing the elements.

In a ritual, the center of your circle will usually be your altar. The altar is basically a table or other flat surface with objects on it to represent the God and Goddess and other sacred things. For instance, you may want to put something to represent the elements on it. There are some tools that are usually put on the altar. For instance, the athame.

Altars are normally set up to face either East or North, much as the circle is often cast beginning in those directions. On the altar, you may want to have it laid out like this:

The Right Side:

• a yellow, gold, or orange candle to represent the God
• your athame
• a bowl of salt

The Left Side:

• a green, white, red, or black (white, red, and black represent the seperate aspects of the Triple Goddess--Maiden, Mother, and Crone) candle to represent the Goddess
• your cauldron or chalice
• a bowl of water

In the Center:

• a white candle to represent the One, the Infinite, the All
• possibly a mirror to represent the Divine Source, the beginning of creation

Now, that is a simple altar setup, but an effective one. Keep in mind that you don't have to use it--it's just a suggestion. If you want to get fancier, then you can put objects that represent the elements on your altar, or special things that you consider sacred. I keep a small silver bowl in the center of my altar, and a salt-and-pepper set that I use for ritual salt and water. These are things I added to personalize my altar. For you, pick what feels right. This is, after all, your altar!

Something often found in connection with altars is an altar pentacle, a pentacle made of any material (though plastic, completely man-made, is not preferred for anything in Wicca and the Craft), often of wood or clay, and placed on the altar. In many altar setups, this is the focal point.

The ritual will usually start by casting the circle, followed by an invocation to the God/dess(es) that you want present at your ritual. The God/dess(es) can be from any pantheon. From there on, the ritual content will depend entirely on what type of ritual it is and what your magical affiliations are. A Full Moon rite, for instance, will be completely different from a Solstice celebration. At the end, the Go/dess(es) are thanked for attending and and the circle is dismissed.

Spells are mainly done in ritual, in most Wiccan paths, under the guidance of the Divine. Sorry, no spells for turning your ex into a toad; that violates the Rede (and anyways, no one's ever been able to do that yet). Spells can be done for wealth, or to bring love in general into your life. Not a specific person. Spells for healing can also be done, as well as things that are a little out of the ordinary: spells to find bargains on prices, to get help for something, to lose weight (though you won't lose weight unless you, personally, do something to help yourself; the spell is a catalyst, not an instant cure)...in general, everything.

Don't worry about finding things like Eye of Newt. Most spells use fairly common objects, like stones, candles, and herbs. Some people do use blood in their spells--Gerina Dunwich, for example, which is precisely why I don't recommend her books--but on the whole, it's agreed the using blood is violating the Rede. Harm none, remember?

(And no offense to Ms. Dunwich, but where is the ordinary person gonna come up with a dead dove that died naturally to take blood from, anyways? "Excuse me, sir, do you have some blood from a dove that died a natural death for me to use in spellcasting?" That's a free trip to the insane asylum...)

The two main rules for spellcasting are:

The Wiccan Rede states, in effect, that you must not do anything to harm anyone--including yourself. Manipulative magic, doing magic without the object of the spell's knowledge and consent, is considered harm; thereofore, it is outlawed. That includes the "love spells" like were seen in "The Craft". (No--nada--nononono! Is that clear enough?)

If that doesn't motivate you to keep your nose clean, how 'bout this one?

That means that if you do manipulative magic or curses, it will backfire and hit you instead of your intended victim. And it will hit you three times as bad. Is that motivation or what?

(As to whether or not the Law of Three exists, in sixth grade, I had a lot of trouble with a Fundementalist Christian girl who seized any chance to hurt me. The next school year, three months after she had hurt me badly, she had one leg in a cast. I had done nothing that would have caused this effect. She simply, and literally, got what was coming to her. Trust me, it exists.)

Spells often take anywhere from one to three months to materialize. Have patience. If, by the end of three months, it still hasn't had any effect, reconsider the spell, why you did it, and what factors might have affected its effectiveness.

A major part of magic is visualization. Remember that term, because it's used a lot in modern Wicca.

Visualization is seeing things, sort of in your mind's eye, but in your field of vision. Try this:

Close your eyes. Try very hard to "see" something--an object (I tried a snozzberry--you know, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Now, when you can "see" that object well in your mind's eye, mentally take that object and begin to turn it around, studying it from every angle. What does it look like? Does it have bumps, spikes, markings? What is its color? When you can hold that image in your mind for five minutes, open your eyes and try to "see" that object somewhere in the room. Continue to mentally study it, seeing it from all sides and noting every detail. When you can do this for five minutes also, you're ready to move on. You probably won't ever really literally see something with your optic nerves, but seeing things in your mind's eye is enough.

Now, if you've gotten all that, go to my Rituals: The Technical Stuff page. And if you don't understand anything--I mean anything--then tell me. I'll try to explain it. I'd much rather have you ask me about than have you try to do something you don't understand. With magic, always ask questions.