Incantations

Speak of incantations, and invariably the first thing that springs to most people's minds is something akin to:

Laughing?  Why?  It's actually a lovely example of a good incantation!  But first, for those entirely new to craftwork, what is an incantation?

Essentially, a well written incantation will work in two ways; firstly, it will aid in the raising of a cone of energy, and secondly, it will aid in directing that cone towards the specific purpose of the rite or spell.  Many is the book or website which will offer various incantations depending upon the purpose but, as with all spellwork, an incantation will invariably work far better if you have written it yourself.  This way, you use a style and wording appropriate to you, and not the words of somebody else.  I know for my own part that, no matter how much an incantation meant to it's author, many is the time I've burst out laughing as I attempt to recite it myself... because it simply isn't a style I'd use.

So how do you go about writing an effective incantation?  Well, first of all, note the style of the Shakespearean example given above.  Do you see how it has a kind of sing-songy pattern to it?  As banal as this can often seem in other people's wording, once you apply your own and start to use it, you will come to understand the purpose of phrasing it in such a way.  By allowing it to fall into this rhyming rhythm, it becomes more of a chant, thus aiding you in achieving that altered state of consciousness which is so vital to obtaining the best possible results from your work.

The next key thing to remember is to keep the incantation as short as possible.  Something between four and eight lines at most is a good general rule to follow.  Past that, there is too much to remember and recite, and the power of the words is lost in the struggle to recite them.  However, because of the brevity of the piece, additional care needs to be taken in ensuring that you have succinctly included the main purpose of the incantation.  This is often easier said than done, as you need to word it in such a way which ensures it cannot be misinterpreted or backfire in any way.

Often a good way of avoiding this is to close with a second incantation... something I tend to refer to as a safety clause.  Again, make up your own wording, but as a general rule, try to incorporate the key concept of your will being done without harming anybody/thing in the process.

So you have your incantation written and consigned to memory... now what?  Well, for those new to craftworking, I would strongly recommend that, if at all possible, you should now leave it for a week and think upon the wording, just in case an obvious downfall of the wording suddenly becomes evident to you.

Once you are totally satisfied with what you have created, you are now ready to incorporate it in whatever way it has been designed to be used; be it casting circle, for use within a specific ritual, or even to be used on a daily basis for an ongoing personal project.

As with affirmations, one final pointer is to remember to keep the wording of your incantation in the now.  The vagaries of time mean that, if you assign it to some point in the future, it will either never come, or if assigned to a specific date, can turn up on that same date every year!  Both have been known to happen on a regular basis!