Now have a think, when was the last time you made a wish, or said a prayer with the sole intention of making a change to your life or someone elses?

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if a certain event happened, or a certain someone asked you to marry them, or you found the home of your dreams?

If you have done any of these things, then you have cast a spell!

A spell is the casting of thought, intention and energy out into the ether, universe, god, greater energy - whatever you call it, in order to make a change to your life or to someone elses life. In its basic form there is no need to light candles, hold a wand, dance around an altar naked in the moonlight... although having tools, ingredients and ritual will make the energy of a spell more potent and more likely to succeed.

So lets focus on the basic rules of spell casting - since many of you may already be putting your energies into the world so to speak without realising the potency of your thoughts...

Belief and focus is the key to making spells work, even wishes come true if you believe in them enough.

The important thing is to always use positive intention because whatever you put out into the universe will come back to you THREEFOLD

So always use positive intention and believe in the results of the spell.

Another consideration when making a wish or casting a spell is to be realistic and only ask for what you truly need - obviously a lottery win would be lovely, but is neither realistic nor what everyone needs (think about it - will all that money REALLY solve all your problems, how many really rich people are truly happy?), however wishing for enough money to come to you to cover that surprise expense, or enough to go on holidays is ok.

Now, spellcraft is not about black magic - remember the rule of threefold, whatever intention you put out there will come back to you three times over. So if you wish ill of someone, they may well go through a tough time, but you will feel the repurcussions three times more intensely. Equally if you wish someone well, you will benefit from that good intention. So always, always have positive intent, and end every wish, spell or prayer with "And harm it none"

Just think, if you fancy someone in your office, but don't really know them, and wish for them to fall for you without considering the repurcussions, it may well happen... also they may be married, in a relationship with someone else, leave them cause them hurt and eventually this will come back and bite you on the butt!

Be careful that you do not bind someone or something to you in a spell - again wishing for love and romance is a common thing, but rather than specifying a person's name, list the qualities about them that you like, chances are the bond you will form as a result will be stronger and without any harm to anyone.

so in summary then, remember the following

the rule of threefold
belief
positive intent
only ask for what you need
remember to end every wish or spell so that no-one is harmed.

Obviously using candles, casting a circle, having an altar, using essential oils, ribbons, coloured paper, herbs, a wand etc are all part and parcel of what spellcasting is all about, and there is no denying that casting a spell within the ritual of casting a circle, and using specific ingredients, with specific words adds to the potency and likely success of the spell - but that is because all these things focus the intent.

Not everyone can do these things, or get their hands on myrrh resin with honeydue pips... but you can all sit quietly and make a wish... just as long as it harms none!