Wiccan

Wiccans And The Use Of Spells

Wicca as a religion does make use of magic and spells in it's practices. This is often differentiated by an alternate spelling of magic as "magick". This is to differentiate between the ritual magic performed by Wiccans and Pagans from the magic of illusions and card tricks. There is no universal agreement to the use of this term, it has been pointed out in the Wiccan community that a special spelling for magic seems more like a call for attention. Some individuals use "ritual magic" to differentiate between the magic of stage and of the circle.

Magic and spells are almost always performed in a ritual setting in Wicca; it isn't something done on-the-fly or with no preparation. The exact mechanics of magic are debated among Wiccans, but the general consensus is that ritual magic either redirects certain universal energies or curries favor with the gods for a specific effect. A cornerstone of this practice is not mis-using it. Using magic or spells to directly harm another person is as close to sacrilegious as it gets in Wicca and very few Wiccans would be willing to be party to a ritual for the purpose of harming someone else.

Spells are often written custom for the event however certain "canned"spells are available. There is a booming trade among less reputable book publishers in the selling of books with dubious collections of spells that are supposed to be used to do everything from getting the user great wealth to the ability to read minds. In practice, most Wiccans ignore these books or use them as examples of what not to do.