season 2, episode 11 - how to cast a spell

as we head towards a new year and close out this one, we’re taking a moment to look at spellcasting and how we can incorporate what can feel very intimidating into our everyday magic practice. what exactly is a spell anyway? our host ash alberg sees likenesses between spells, wishes, and prayers, and invites you to consider for yourself how tiny spells fall out of you each and every day.

each season we read a new book about witchcraft practices around the world with the #snortandcacklebookclub, with a book review by ash and the occasional guest helping us close out the season. this season's #snortandcacklebookclub read is "orishas, goddesses, and voodoo queens" by lilith dorsey.

take the fibre witch quiz at ashalberg.com/quiz. follow us on instagram @snortandcackle and be sure to subscribe via your favourite podcasting app so you don't miss an episode!

seasons 1-3 of snort & cackle are generously supported by the manitoba arts council.

transcript

ash alberg: [Upbeat music plays.] Hello, and welcome to the Snort and Cackle podcast. I'm your host, Ash Alberg. I'm a queer fibre witch and hedgewitch. And each week I interview a fellow boss witch to discuss how everyday magic helps them make their life and the wider world, a better place. 

Expect serious discussions about intersections of privilege and oppression, big C versus small C capitalism, rituals, sustainability, astrology, ancestral work, and a whole lot of snorts and cackles. Each season, we read a new book about witchcraft practices around the world with the #SnortAndCackleBookClub with a book review by me and the occasional guest helping us close out the season. Our book this season is Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens by Lilith Dorsey. 

Whether you're an aspiring boss witch looking to start your knitwear design business, a plant witch looking to play more with your local naturally dyed color palette or a knit witch wondering just what the hell is a natural yarn and how do you use it in your favorite patterns, we've got the solution for you.

Take the free fiber witch quiz at ashalberg.com/quiz and find out which self-paced online program will help you take your dreams into reality. Visit ashalberg.com/quiz [upbeat music fades out] and then join fellow fiber witches in the Creative Coven Community at ashalberg.com/creative-coven-community for 24/7 access to Ash’s favorite resources, monthly zoom knit nights, and more. [End of intro.]  

Hello, and welcome to this episode of Snort and Cackle. We are still on a bit of a holiday hiatus but there are still podcast episodes to get into your feed. So I hope that you have enjoyed the last couple of Yule-themed episodes. And this week we are going to have another shorty-ish episode and we're going to be talking about how to cast a spell.

And as we head into what much of the world considers the new year, of course, there are many different points of the calendar year in which different groups identify a new year, also different folks follow different calendars as witches. Some of you may observe Samhain as your new year. That's witch’s new year frequently.

But I also make a point of having some fairly solid ritual that I've built around New Year's Eve as an adult. And there are some family ones that I do as well. But it's nice to have built a few rituals for myself around saying goodbye to the past year and welcoming in the new one in a way that feels healthy for both.

In that kind of theme, I wanted to chat about how to cast a spell because for a lot of folks spell casting can feel very woo woo. We all know that's my favorite word. I'm being sarcastic. It can also feel really intimidating if you're really trying to step into your witch identity. It can also feel a scary and potentially very negative or potentially violent.

And I think a lot of that just comes from the way that witchcraft in general has been demonized both literally and figuratively over the years. And as a result of that, then spell casting has a similarity, similarly been given this very negative connotation and it's either something that is totally made up, or it is something that's very dangerous and you have to be careful of.

And as a witch who is constantly building new relationships with my witchcraft practice, I have come to appreciate spell casting, particularly over the last year, I would say. And I would also say that I have adjusted my definition of spell casting. 

I used to think that spell casting needed to be something that was like a really big production. You needed to have really specific tools in order to have a successful spell. You needed to say things in a certain way, which to me always felt really awkward. You needed to be asking a certain deity or spirit for help in the spell casting. 

And then of course there is the rule of three, which I do prescribe to, which is that whatever you put out into the universe comes back to you threefold. And so for that reason, I do have some rules that I always abide by when it comes to my spell casting which includes not putting out negative spells intentionally because if they go wrong then … and spells can go very wrong with very minor things that make them go sideways. 

And so I'm not interested in taking that risk on. I try to avoid intentionally putting out that negative energy into the world. Doesn't mean that I don't practice spell casting as far as boundary spells, or as far as protection spells. I would actually say that because I choose to not do negative spell casting, then I ended up doing a lot more boundary and self protection spell casting instead.

And I also am not cool with spell casting that is non-consensual. So I think this is also one where, especially thanks to popular media, then when people think about, casting a spell, the one that is potentially the most benign slash the most funny when we think about the way that it gets used in popular media but I think also is actually one of the most dangerous is non-consensual love spells. 

And I'm sure that a lot of us, if not most of us can think of at least one show or movie that you've seen in your life where a love spell gets cast, because somebody is in love with somebody and it's not reciprocated and so they cast a love spell. Usually it's given to them by somebody else, or they read a book and half of the page is torn and so it goes haywire. And if it's a comedy, then it goes haywire in an entertaining way and in the end they end up together anyway. And if it's not a comedy, then it still ends up going haywire.

But I am not cool with those and I'm not cool with them being used in real life because it's not consensual. And I feel like if love is not being reciprocated, then there's a reason for that. And either love will be reciprocated at a different point in time under different circumstances or it won't be and so we need to be okay with that and give people the autonomy to decide that they don't want to love us in the way that we want them to and figure out how to move on. It's not one where casting a spell that removes their choice in the matter is appropriate or acceptable as far as I'm concerned.

And so that's probably what a lot of us think of when it comes to spell casting. And I put that in quotation marks and I don't think it needs to be that complicated honestly. What I have come to learn over the last year in particular is that the spell casting is synonymous with a number of other words, which can be as commodified these days as manifestation. I feel like manifestation is word that you have to be careful with these days.

It can be not fully a dog whistle, but it certainly has some drama attached to it that is not always so grand. And it also, I think, is synonymous with words like wishes or prayer. And I think that's where I'm more interested in leaning into it. And us chatting more through this episode about spell casting is thinking of that in relation to a wish and prayer. 

And I think it's, it's interesting where witches and when I say witch, folks who have been identified as witches, both good and bad, by the dominant religions through history. But witches are often asked to put … take the skills that they have to change something in the universe.

And it's the physical manifestation of a prayer or a wish where we ask of something outside of ourselves to help us to achieve something that we deeply want. And maybe that's love, maybe that's wealth, maybe that's security, maybe that is safety. Maybe that's a good harvest. Maybe that is something as simple as getting a good, a good result on an upcoming test or in making sure that the beer doesn't spoil or that the herbs will grow well and will store well to be used as medicine for the year.

There's so many other ways that we can look at it. But I think that it's interesting the way that witches, in doing that work, have become maligned for doing it. And it's seen as being a really scary or intimidating thing. And meanwhile, the dominant religions … and I'm going to say, I'm going to say the church, but feel free to replace that with any dominant religion, specifically the institutions of them. I am not referring to individual churches or synagogues or mosques or individual leaders within that. 

But I'm talking about the institutions of these dominant religions. They are being asked to do the same thing and the deeply devoted to them will, in an effort to protect themselves from witches, often say things that I often laugh and I'm like, you just made a spell or you just cast a spell. And it's often not … like I would classify them as like negative spells, but like you just cast a spell and it's in your own religious version or your own spiritual version.

But it … I've, it makes me chuckle more so than worry or fear generally because it's being done from a distance. It becomes less funny when it's physically near enough to hurt you. Or there are ways of hurting folks via the interwebs these days. When the threat becomes a little more tangible than that's when it stops being quite so funny, but I have been lucky enough up to this point to when those experiences happen to me, it's generally just makes me chuckle.

Like when, I send an email out and the word “coven” is splattered all over it because coven is a big part of my brand. I have the Creative Coven. My, my studios are, have been referred to as Tiny Coven Studios for years and years. Anybody who's following me, you can't go very far I don't think without seeing coven in my languaging. 

And I had somebody once to reply to an email in all caps, that said BLOOD OF JESUS. And I was like, okay, you A. need to be blocked and removed from this list, but B. you just cast a spell because what was clearly behind that email, other than anxiety, was the faith that the use of those words specifically would protect them from the perceived evil that I was delivering to their inbox.

And I find it really interesting where to me, I'm like that's a Christian version of a spell. And there's a bit of irony in fearing something and responding to it with your own version of the thing that you are scared of. I think there's something perhaps interesting that could be dug into as far as human psyche there, ‘cause I think that frequently happens in real life in many ways. But specifically when it comes to spells, I think that broadening our concept of “what is a spell” and “how do we cast a spell” maybe does root back to that very simple factor of you do something with the hope and faith that by doing this thing, you are going to make something else happen for you. 

And whether that is believing deeply that by saying certain words, you are going to protect yourself from harm or that by mixing certain ingredients together and doing so under a certain lunar cycle and saying certain words or incantations during the process of that as well, that then you are going to bring something into your life or remove something from your life or do the same thing on somebody else's behalf, I think there's something really interesting in that and universal. 

And I also don't think it needs to be that complicated. So I'd mentioned at the beginning that I think a lot of us are intimidated as baby witches in how to approach spell casting, because it can feel like the only legit spells are those ones that are spoken under certain lunar cycles and with certain words and using certain tools and it can make witchcraft feel very inaccessible.

[Sound of clinking dog collar in the background.]

And … sorry, Willow's on a bit of a wander. I don't think it needs to be that complicated. I would argue that every time I am knitting, I am casting a tiny spell with every single stitch. And that is because when I am knitting, I am usually consciously and subconsciously putting an intention into my knitting.

And it's at the point now where, when I'm in a certain mood, I just won't knit or if I have a certain energy level than I won't knit. And also if I know that I need my knitting to support me because it's its own spell in terms of providing me with strength and structure when I am deeply in need of that and comfort … but if I know that I'm going to be knitting something over a particularly hard or grief-filled period, then I also will have an intention for the item that I am knitting based on that knowing that I'm going to be putting that energy into it.

And it's often that, that item ends up not having a life off of my needles once I have it cast off or that if it does, it's got a really specific purpose that is rooted in like healing wishes that are perhaps made with grief, but with deep hope embedded in them and deep love embedded in them as well.

And I do feel like it's as simple as picking up my my needles and knitting a stitch. That that is casting a really simple spell. And I think depending on “what is the purpose of this thing,” then it can actually be a much more intense spell, right? Like I have people who are knit-worthy in my life, and that is because I trust them to care for my knits.

It's also because I love them enough to put that effort in to begin with. So as far as I'm concerned, when I am knitting for my dear ones and for my family and for my loved ones, that is a love spell that is happening. That is a consensual love spell because it is being given with no expectation of receiving love in return.

It is just me gifting my love to somebody who is an important person in my life without needing them to provide the same love back or in the same way or any kind of expectation like that. I think that's an appropriate kind of love spell where you are gifting your love to somebody who has already consented to receiving your love and providing it in a way that has love embedded into every stitch or into every thread or into every … I don't know, cut of wood or nail or whatever. 

And I think this is also perhaps where kitchen witching becomes often almost like a gateway into witchcraft for a lot of folks because for kitchen witches, much of our magic happens in our kitchen. That's, it's the epicenter of it. And so the food that we cook and the medicines that we make and the drinks that we serve and the meals that we create, those become their own spells as well. These, you put certain herbs in for their healing qualities or their health qualities, or just because they taste good and look pretty.

And it's all part of a show that is almost like a more visible and then also sensual experience because as we eat and consume things, then that's a very sensual experience as in engaging multiple senses. And so I think it becomes a really incredible spell each time we do that for people that we love, because we are like physically having our spells consumed by and become part of a nourish other people's bodies and our own bodies as well. 

Conversely of course there can be the malicious version of that, which is when people poison somebody. But it's interesting because I think we often don't consider the process of making a meal for somebody, like an everyday meal, to be casting a spell for them with our love and our had our commitment to them in whatever way that we've chosen to commit. 

We've chosen to commit enough that we are going to spend our time and our energy in the kitchen, making them food and that is not considered a spell. And yet if we were to put poison into a meal, then that would be more likely to be considered a spell and to be considered evil witchcraft. Probably that's a legit concern, but I find it interesting that the more beneficial version of that, of making somebody a meal or preparing them a drink, and maybe we add in cinnamon or we add in some tinctures or we add in, we make a big bowl of chicken noodle soup, or dumplings, or whatever it is that our loved ones enjoy eating when they're sick and we are trying to get them better. I think there's something that is really beautiful about that and absolutely a practice of spell casting.

And it's a more accessible way of stepping into what can be an intimidating practice. That's where I'm at when it comes to how to cast a spell. I think, I've given these examples of knitting and kitchen witchery because for me, that is primarily where my magic lies. And my dye pots are an extension of my kitchen witching. As a hedge witch, then, you know, working with plants is my thing.

And with my natural dye pots, then I am at the very least combining the life forces of these natural dye stuffs, whether it's bugs or plants, and combining that with these natural fibers that had their own types of lives before and are now going to live a different kind of life. And I'm, combining them together.

And then there's the even more intentional version when … which more frequently occurs when I'm working with my locally sourced dye stuffs, like when I'm working with plants that I've grown myself or that I've foraged and that I've built a relationship with, then it's an even more intimate experience of then taking that color from that plant and thanking it for it's life force and embedding an imbuing that into a textile, and then that textile going off to go and live a useful life with someone else, whether that's to be knit into something or it's to be just adding color to a blanket or to a family heirloom that had a tea stain on it. And now it's got a new flush of color and new life to live.

And in those moments too I've built a deeper relationship with those plants. And I also have probably spent more time with them in understanding what the other uses they have and what other affinities they have, and imbuing that whole energy into the plant or into the textile.

And not in the way of okay, I've used yarrow, which is a really deeply, beautifully healing herb and I've used it to dye the fabric for a headscarf. And that headscarf is going to go to a loved one who is battling cancer and needs something to protect their head. I'm not taking it to the extreme of here, this headscarf will cure your cancer. I don't think that's true. [Chuckles.] I also don't think that level of spell casting is particularly responsible. But I think it can play a part. 

And I think that the wish and hope and love embedded in that as a healing assistant is important and in the same way that we combine medicine, conventional medicine, with traditional medicines, with love and wishes and prayers, then I think that spell casting via a healing plant-imbued textile is just one other tool to add into that toolkit as we work to make a loved one healthy again, or to assist them in a hard time.

I think it can be as simple as that, honestly. And I also think that we do still need to be responsible, right? And to also understand the limitations of our spell casting. I think if we keep those things in mind and we like put this hope out into the universe while also trusting that the universe is going to do what it needs to do anyway and that this is just adding our wish to the queue so that they have our opinions logged, then I think that's a good thing. 

And I think it's something that all of us have the capacity to do whether we identify as full-time witch or not. So I am going to invite you, as we close up this episode, to think to yourself as we move into the new year here, at least in the Western world and in much of the rest of the world, what is a spell that you wish that you could cast for 2022 as we step into it?

And what is the spell that you would like to cast for closing out 2021? And then I invite you to do one or both of those. And again, it can be as simple as you want. Maybe it's a little bit more complex. And maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with knitting or textiles or plants. That's the language that I live in, and that is the witching that I do most consistently.

But you perhaps work in other realms. And so what does spell casting look like using the tools that you are most familiar with and most comfortable with? And if you are listening to this episode and you are not at all the witch and you have another type of practice that you prefer to follow, then I invite you to figure out what is the version of spell casting within your own faith or spiritual focus? Cast a spell accordingly. 

I hope that you all have a beautiful end to 2021. We've made it, again. It's been a hard year. It's been a hard couple of years. But I think we can be better for it, potentially. The Sagittarius in me chooses to have that deep optimism because I think it's really necessary. So I offer that out to you as well if you need a little chunk of it for yourself. Happy New Year, and we will chat with you again in 2022.

[Upbeat music plays.] You can find full episode recordings and transcripts at snortandcackle.com. Just click on podcast in the main menu. Follow Snort and Cackle on Instagram @snortandcackle and join our seasonal book club with @SnortandCackleBookClub. Don't forget to subscribe and review the podcast by your favorite podcasting platform.

Editing provided by Noah Gilroy, recording and mixing by Ash Alberg, music by Yesable.