In my vicinity, mascots are a common sight at various events and locations. These vibrant and lively characters are often associated with sports teams, schools, and businesses. **Mascots play a significant role in creating a sense of unity and excitement among the community**. One of the most popular mascots in my area is a roaring lion that represents our local high school. This mascot is seen at pep rallies, football games, and other sporting events, boosting morale and cheering on the team. The lion's energetic presence creates a lively and spirited atmosphere, encouraging students and fans to show their support.

Spellcrafting: Strengthen the Power of Your Craft by Creating and Casting Your Own Unique Spells

Make your own magic! Spellcrafting is a step-by-step guide to writing your own spells and timing them for the best effect. From different types of spells to the intentions and powers of different ingredients, you will have everything you need to create unique magic that works best for you.

Spellcrafting goes beyond basic spell books to explore how and why your magic works, what you can do to improve and strengthen it, and how to troubleshoot when things don’t go as planned. Now you can take your magic into your own hands and create a completely personalized spell for wherever life may take you.

Genres WitchcraftMagicSpiritualityPaganismNonfictionMagickOccult

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 14, 2020

About the author

Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Currently a resident of Montreal, Canada, Arin works as a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Power Spellcraft for Life: The Art of Crafting and Casting for Positive Change (2005), Solitary Wicca for Life: A Complete Guide to Mastering the Craft on Your Own (2005), The Way of the Green Witch (2006), The Way of the Hedge Witch (2009), and Pagan Pregnancy: The Journey From Maiden to Mother (TBA). She is also the editor of the anthology Out of the Broom Closet (2009).

Arin is a third-degree Wiccan High Priestess in the Black Forest Clan, a tradition linked both by lineage and practice to several other branches of Wiccan thought and philosophy including the Caledonii Tradition, Druidism, Gardnerian practice, Seax-Wicca, general Celtic Wicca, and German witchcraft. She works as a priestess in her community performing rites of passage and giving occasional workshops, and leads a private coven.

Her hobbies include playing the cello, handspinning, and weaving.

The lion's energetic presence creates a lively and spirited atmosphere, encouraging students and fans to show their support. Another notable mascot in my vicinity is a friendly bear that represents a local amusement park. This cuddly character can be seen greeting guests, posing for photos, and entertaining children.

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Another book I wish I had read when I started my practice, it covers just about everything about crafting and casting spells.

Might be a nitpick, but this is one thing I noticed: the author claims time and time again that synthetic components don't hold the same energy as their "natural" counterparts, going so far as to say that "using a microwave is not the same thing as a traditional oven", but later encourages using a USB drive for a house protection spell. Interesting.

Due to my fragrance sensitivity, right from the get-go of starting on my spiritual journey, I have had to occassionally adapt spells and rituals written by others, but more often write my own from scratch, with only the spells I couldn't use in other books as a guide. I've done pretty well, and I'm actually quite proud of what I've written myself, and what I've achieved with those spells, but I always thought it would be good to have a guide to actually writing your own, to give me more confidence or other ideas. So when I heard Spellcraft by Arin Murphy-Hiscock was being published, I was super excited to read it!

Right from the offset, I was pretty sure this would be a book I could trust; Arin Murphy-Hiscock is a prolific author, with her most well known probably being The Green Witch, The House Witch, and The Witch's Book of Self-Care. Spellcrafting is a very accessible and indepth look at the steps required to writing your own spells. The first part of the book discusses exactly what spellcasting is, and the ethics of spellcasting, before a chapter on each step required in Murphy-Hiscock's opinion to cast your own spells, talking you through each step in great detail. The second part then breaks down each step further; for example, one of the steps discussed in the Crafting a Spell chapter is raising energy, and in part two, there's a whole chapter on various methods of raising energy, and guides you through figuring out which method is appropriate for your particular purpose.

What I especially loved about Spellcrafting is it explains the why behind each element of a spell. All of the witchcraft 101 books I have read have featured spells the reader can cast themselves, as well as lots of information about various correspondences and timing, and so on. And while it makes sense that you might use a particular component for a spell based on it's correspondences, there's never been any proper explanation as to why the various components are used. They all say that the components aren't necessarily needed, that all that's needed is you and your intent, but that these tools and components aid in intent and focus, and keys for your subconcious mind, but never what they actually do - and to be honest, it had never occurred to me to question it. The answer, in very simple terms, is that the energy of those tools and components combines with your own to help aid the spell. Basically, in Spellcrafting, Murphy-Hiscock explains the science of spells, the why and how of each and every step. And there is just so much detail. So much! It really is such a brillaint resource. From the timing of your spell, to the methods of magic, to how you can raise energy, and so much more - each has it's own dedicated chapter. I have bookmarked so many pages in this book, it really in just brilliant.

There's something I want to touch on, but I want to make it clear this isn't a criticism of the book. I've just reached the point in my studying where I'm actually following the advice I've read in most books - take wahat resonates, and leave the rest. After all we shape our own paths, and our craft is personal to us. For me, I found Murphy-Hiscock's structure for writing and casting spells to be quite complicated. As I said at the beginning of this review, I've been writing my own spells and rituals for a while now. Yes, I want to learn more about doing so, but I already know that how I have written spells in the past is fine, because they worked - and they weren't quite as complicated as Spellcrafting sets out. I've learnt a huge amount from Spellcrafting, it's made me think a lot, and I'll definitely be using what I've learned when I write spells, but there are elements I'll skip for some spells but use in others. I don't think it's necessary to follow Spellcrafting rigidly. At least that's how I view it - take what resonates and leave the rest.

Along similar lines, it's important to say that Murphy-Hiscock is Wiccan, and some of her beliefs in that regard do make it into the book. She may not outright mention the three-fold law, but she does talk several times about the energy you put out into the world coming back to you. The Ethics of Spellcasting is a really interesting chapter, and one that really makes you think about who may be effected by your spell and how. It gets you to ask yourself a lot of questions before even crafting the spell, and to be sure of your ethical position. Murphy-Hiscock's emphasis is on you thinking it through right to the end, of all the possibilities, and to adapt as you see fit, and basically you should do you - and it is a great chapter. But you can very much read Murphy-Hiscock's opinion through the lines, and there's definitely a sense of her not being for spells that badly effect people. It made me a little uncomfortable - not everyone has the same moral code, and not everyone abides by the Wiccan Rede of "An' ye harm none, do what ye will", and I just feel there's a sense of judgement of those who do cast "unethical" spells. However, while there is that sense, she doesn't bash you over the head with it - she doesn't even outright state it. So if you can overlook this, maybe it won't bother you too much. Again, take what resonates with you, and leave the rest.

Spellcrafting really is a fantastic book, and one I will come back to time and again. I really recommend it if you want some guidance in writing your own spells, and to understand the nitty gritty of spellcasting.

What is A Traditional Witch? I am just a witch, not a wiccan (and there is a huge difference!)

When I tell people I am a Witch, about 95% of the replies I receive say “So you’re wiccan? No. I am a traditional witch, but what is a traditional witch? Before we get into all that, let’s look at our history…

Witchcraft dates back thousands of years, almost (if you look at what we do) back to when time began, to it’s roots in herbal healing by village wise women and cunning folk. who, before King James rewrote the Bible and hunted and murdered our kind, were very important and incredibly useful people in the villages, towns and settlements. A wise woman (or man) had many hats. They were the doctors, midwives, herbalists, police, counselors, therapists and more. There were sought after people because they could help the village in so many ways.

The line in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible that states: “

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” was originally “Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live.”

In the original Hebrew Bible the author of that passage use the word “m’khashepah”. And translated this word means “poisoner”. Now, you don’t have to be a witch to poison someone. And witchcraft was never mentioned in the bible until King James rewrote it to serve his own purpose because he was scared that witches were trying to kill him and his wife, Anne, as they thought they were being targeted by witches because there were storms on the North Sea when they were travelling and he thought that witches controlled the weather. But of course, this was just the weather and he needed someone to blame, so, hysteria ensured and witch hunts followed (and sadly, still happen to this day).

Witches are not evil, but just like in any path or faith, there is good and bad in all, even Christianity. Not all Christians are 100% nice either. As I said, good and bad in all and that is just because we are indeed, human. I have a foot in both the witchy camp and the church, with friends and family also in both. Both sides have part of my heart but I was born and raised a witch… who also went to a church school 😉

But there are many variety of witches and the two main strands are traditional witches (like me) and wiccans (not me).

Witches, wise men and women and cunning folk, as I have mentioned above have existed as almost as long as history began and this is where the first big difference between traditional witchcraft and wicca is. Traditional witchcraft is ancient, wicca was created in the 1950’s by Gerald Gardner.

A traditional witch is still the wearer of many hats today. We still use nature to help and heal. We still try and live off the land as much as possible. Many of us have professions in natural health or natural living. And even those who don’t, still love to be outside in nature when we can. We still embrace the seasons. We still help other people and we still care about our communities. Nature is our church. The trees, flowers, stones, dirt and herbs are our ingredients. Our hands and minds are our tools. Witches do cast spells but spells are just the same as a prayer or a wish. It is wanting something to happen and asking for it to happen. So when Christians mock witches for casting spells, then they are also mocking their own practice of prayer, as the intent behind a spell is the same as a prayer. Spellcasters of the conjure/hoodoo path also use the Bible and psalms within their spells, thus proving that everything is in fact, entwined.

Witches are not scary, wand flinging, Satan worshipers. In fact in traditional witchcraft the Devil doesn’t even exist. So not Satanism here either, just good old fashioned wholesome natural living.

A traditional witch does not follow a doctrine or rulebook, whereas wiccans have the wiccan rede ‘an ye harm none, do what ye will’. Traditional witches believe that you do what is necessary and take responsibility for our own actions. Whereas wiccans do not tread both sides of the path.

The term pagan and neopagan also get mixed up. The true meaning of pagan is anyone who is not a Christian AND/OR people who live off the land. Neopagans (or modern day pagans) are those who worship a pantheon of deities (i.e. Wiccans). I am pagan as I live off the land as much as possible but I am not a neopagan as I do not worship a pantheon of deities. I hope we are getting a bit clearer on this folks? Hold on to you girdles, ladies and gentlepeeps, we have more to go! So back to traditional witchcraft and wicca….

Wicca is a neopagn religion that worships a pantheon of deities, traditional witchcraft does not. Wicca is a faith or a belief system, traditional witchcraft is a way of life. You can be both of course, you can believe in wicca and practice witchcraft so you are a wiccan witch, but traditional witches have no ‘faith’ indoctrinated within us so we can either have no faith OR have a faith of our choosing alongside traditional witchcraft. We do not worship a pantheon of Gods & Goddesses. We work with energies, spirits and our ancestors. We don’t cast circles, whereas most wiccans do. We don’t plan spells or anything like that, if something needs doing it just gets done. We don’t care about the day of the week or the moon phase. as we believe every day and every phase of the moon (and sun) is just as important as the next. We don’t have to follow ‘magical correspondences’ either but some do.

We don’t do any chanting/wailing/arm waving or dancing naked (I mean come on, I live in the north of England, I would literally freeze my tits off if I did!). We don’t say Blessed Be or Merry Meet or any of that. We do however generally swear a lot and eat an absurd amount of cake! We don’t have to use altars or altar tools (although some do and this is of course up to them), we don’t celebrate the ‘Sabbats’ in the same way as wiccans as we seem them based on the old Celtic farming calendar and their traditional meanings. Lots of traditional witches do not cleanse or protect themselves either, whereas a wiccan would spend a lot of time on this.

We do not have covens either, we DO work in a group if we choose to but there is no hierarchy like a coven and it is not formal, generally it is just a group of friends getting together if extra ‘oomph’ is needed for a spell.

Wiccans have a Book of Shadows, trad witches have a Grimoire. A book of shadows is more like a journal and a grimoire is like a bunch of notes, scraps, ideas, spells and more. BUT the biggest difference between this style of note taking is that there are lots of books on Wicca but few on traditional witchcraft and even those that are on the market, have been either written by wiccans or have a very wiccan style about them. If a traditional witchcraft book mentions the goddess, moon phases, altars etc, it’s not a traditional witchcraft book 😉 This is because the traditional witchcraft ways are taught orally and not written down apart from notes and scraps found in old grimoires.

We don’t need to wear ‘witchy’ clothes or act ‘witchy’ to get something done. I am a witch, it’s there all the time. I don’t have a magical name, I am just me, because that is who I am. Being a witch is something that is within me, I know no different, it’s just me. Although I do study my path and have done since I was born (I was born into a witch family – 9th generation, my daughters being the 10th generation), I feel that traditions are not only upheld but also created and evolve as generations go on.

The great thing about wicca which I think all traditional witches should be happy about (and if they are not, they are just being stubborn), is that it allowed us to be more open about practicing traditional witchcraft and that can only be a good thing. For many years we were (and in some places, like where I live, still…) persecuted for our craft.

I am a traditional witch. I am not a wiccan… And I am very proud of my heritage and hopefully the legacy I will leave for future generations.

Male witches

i was just wondering how you guys would create favor/fluff on a male witch. the only thing i could come up with was a witch doctor type of deal or a crazy swamp dude not very creative i know. so forumites what would you do?

One of the familiar types is a pig, right? A male witch could be a slightly "off" farmer, wandering the roads with his porky companion.

He could be like Billy Bob from Varsity Blues, fat, jovial, and a little dim.

I wanted to make a guy who was like a "crazy old mage" that talked to his animal and managed to get spells to work but not like a real "wizard" type. Sort of like the High Aldwin from Willow; scruffy and odd, "magic" but not quite all there in the head.

I've had a character concept kicking around in my head that could work for a male witch. A young character who was raised by an old crone in the woods (maybe he was born under a certain star and was given to her by his parents, maybe she abducted him, maybe she found him abandoned, lots of possibilities). He's been sheltered his whole life, but instructed extensively in her arts. Maybe she died, or turned him out, or he ran away, but now he is socially awkward - a hermit thrust into society who doesn't really know how to relate to other people.

i was just wondering how you guys would create favor/fluff on a male witch. the only thing i could come up with was a witch doctor type of deal or a crazy swamp dude not very creative i know. so forumites what would you do?

There are tons of options, really. For inspiration, check out Steven Brust's "Jhereg" series. The main character is a witch and assassin. Has a familiar and everything. You could also just call yourself a "warlock" and have done, but I see nothing wrong with a male witch, as a witch is simply a practitioner of witchcraft. :)

My two-and-a-half cents.

One of the familiar types is a pig, right?

Actually, the list for Witch has changed.

The now get the Core Rule book options and Centipede, Crab, Fox, Octopus, Scorpian, and Spider.

Pig and Goat have gone the way of the Dodo familiar.

Someone cultured and sophistcated, very much like a typical James Bond villian. Only he keeps his cat close, and he has wand disguised as a cane. He began to rise in the world with a magical education he could otherwise not afford which he got through communion with otherworldly powers.

Another One which would work for either sex:

The character is kept by wizards as an lab project. Half elf or a half orc are particularly good races for this. Character bargins with something else in the lab in order to escape, which grants their power and facilitate an escape.

Someone cultured and sophistcated, very much like a typical James Bond villian. Only he keeps his cat close, and he has wand disguised as a cane. He began to rise in the world with a magical education he could otherwise not afford which he got through communion with otherworldly powers.

I really like this one. Especially if you can actually somehow get him proficient with a sword cane.

I wanted to make a male witch that was just a traveling merchant, whose familiar saved him from a deadly situation which he never speaks of. Highly intelligent and charismatic he is half showman half salesman. He is also a nomad, fearing to stay in one place for too long lest anyone discover his secret.

Did I mention I wanted to run him in ravenloft? :)

Pig and Goat have gone the way of the Dodo familiar.

For now, at least.

Rules for Small sized familiars like pigs and goats are likely to manifest in next year's "Ultimate Magic."

Go and read through the forums for the playtest, if they are still accessible, as there were threads in there discussing at length the witch class and male versus female, including many posts by people who consider themselves real witches or Wiccans in real life.

Oh, and both for this class and in real life, a male witch is a witch, not a warlock. In gaming terms, a warlock is generally a different class, and in the real world if you were to call a male witch a warlock, you are likely to get punched for insulting them, since in Old English warlock means oathbreaker or traitor.

My current witch is a Grippli (small froglike race) who made hi living pre-adventuring (and hopefully post) as an itinerant potion seller in the Mwangi expanse. Talks with a Russian accent, don't know why.

Oh, and both for this class and in real life, a male witch is a witch, not a warlock. In gaming terms, a warlock is generally a different class, and in the real world if you were to call a male witch a warlock, you are likely to get punched for insulting them, since in Old English warlock means oathbreaker or traitor.

Interestingly, if you go with the oldest etymology, before the negative connotations, warlock broke down to "ward" + "lock," which is to say, a caster who specialized in binding and protection spells, which is an abjurer in D&D/Pathfinder terms.

And the more academic Wiccans will admit that if "witch" can be purged of the negative connotations it's gotten over the years, "warlock" could be as well.

Really any flavor ya can come up with for a female witch works the same for a male witch.

ignoring the religious aspects of the words, since Pathfinder doesn't mention any religious connotation to the Witch class, the Witch and Warlock (from 3.5) are both arcane spellcasters who receive spellcasting ability from a mysterious outside force oft rumored to be demonic, devilish, or fiendish.

But there's no Warlock class in Pathfinder yet, so my group's male Witch calls himself a Warlock. We see no problem with this.

What the witch is NOT, in Pathfinder: (s)he is NOT Wiccan, pagan, or by default associated with any religion existing in Pathfinder or the real world. She doesn't necessarily revere nature (or Nature), worship Gaia, or do anything else real-world witches or Wiccans or pagans might do as part of their belief. If she uses a pentagram in her spellwork, it does not (for her) represent nature necessarily, although it can.

The Pathfinder Witch is quite obviously based on the witches that are parts of our old-wives'-tales and does things like curse people, brew foul potions, and talk to their favorite pet far more often than most people consider normal. This is much more "Wicked Witch of the West" or "Hansel and Gretel".

(Side note: the male witch in our group started with what seemed like a stock generic background: only survivor of a bandit raid that wiped out his town as a young boy. Instead of being raised by wolves / adopted by another race / sold as a slave, though, he wandered the ruined village and found a fox that had been tortured by the raiders for sport. He took care of it, trying to save the only living thing he could in the village, and after it recovered, it began speaking to him. An unnamed dark force spoke through it to teach the child how to use magic to stay alive and grow stronger, which he wanted to do in order to protect others from the same fate. unfortunately, this dark force requires blood sacrifice of living sentient humanoids on occasion. He maintains his Chaotic Good alignment in spite of the occasional sacrifice by being an absolute bastion of Good the other 99% of the time. plus he's negotiated with his patron so that mostly evil persons are chosen for sacrifice.

He took Cauldron and Charm as some of his first hexes, Charm Person and Hypnotism for spells, and attempts to avoid combat whenever possible, especially when hunting his sacrifice. He creates Drow Poison and uses spells and Charisma-based skills to isolate his target and subdue them for sacrifice.)

The bear's playful nature brings a sense of joy and happiness to visitors, making their experience at the park even more memorable. Mascots are not restricted to just sports teams and amusement parks in my vicinity. They can also be found at various community events, such as parades and festivals. For example, a colorful bird mascot is a regular participant in our annual summer parade. This mascot adds a touch of whimsy and excitement to the event, captivating both children and adults alike. Overall, mascots in my vicinity play a vital role in bringing people together and fostering a sense of unity and pride. These vibrant characters represent different organizations and events, creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for the community. Whether it's cheering on the home team or adding a touch of magic to a festival, mascots truly make a difference in my vicinity..

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