Spells

These are spells that I seemed to have copied from a few books of Lwellyen or however you spell the name.

For an Improved State of Health

Fold in a scrap

Of velvet cloth

These treasures six

To bring you health:

Leaves of tea,

Flowers of lavender,

Ginger and salt

And clove and camphor;

Tie up the charm

With a scarlet thread,

Keep it beside

Your nightly bed;

Breathe it on waking

Every day-

You must be healed,

And healed must stay.

A Cider-Potion, for Strength

If cider is pressed

When the apples are warm,

Its russet taste

Must turn you strong;

Heat it with cloves,

With cinnamon long,

Drink it soon

And read this song:

Apple rust

And cinnamon rust

And cloves like rusty nails,

Turn my skull

To an iron wall,

My ribs to iron rails.

For an Elixir of Honey

When the day approaches noon,

Hold up honey to the sun,

That their double gold may run

Shining together, mixed as one.

Drink three spoonfuls,

Then say this:

Sun charge me,

Gold serve me,

Alchemy change me,

Honey preserve me.

Against Evil Dreams

The nightmare will toss

Its cold black mane

And gallop on ebony hoofs

From your pillow, away

As far as the moon, if you say:

Thou evil thing

Of darkness born,

Of tail and wing

And snout and horn,

Fly from me

From now till morn.

Then think of the fire

That burns by day:

Sun in his glistening chariot,

Drawn by foam-white

Stallions, out of the sea.

To Become Invisible

Fern-seed

In your pocket

Will hide you

From some,

But to be free

Of everyone,

You must go away

Where water lies

Quiet, and look

To find your face-

Then scatter

The seeds across

Your image

Until

It departs.

For an Absolution

In a shaded room

Burn candles three

Whose wax is black

As ebony;

Let incense cloud

And thicken the air,

Then write these words

Against despair:

DOLOR FUMOSUS

ANIMUS ATRATUS

IN LUCTU SUM

SIGNO SIGNUM

Burn the paper

And powder its ash

In a shallow bowl

Of polished brass;

Cover your hands

With this dark dust-

Your past will be cleansed,

Your future blessed.

To Embrace Solitude

Go into your house

And fasten the windows,

Block the chimneys,

Lock the doors;

Stop up the keyholes,

Draw the curtains,

Say these words

To all betrayers:

I am my own today,

Nor any other shall steal me away.

Drink to your strength

A glass of wine,

Then sit three hours

In silence, alone,

Before you go forth again.

To Avert Temptation

If the demon approaches

And gently beseeches

Your custom and favor,

And offers you silver

Or gold for your weakness,

Or feasts of great sweetness,

Or beauty past wasting,

Or love everlasting,

Or pleasures unending,

To buy your unbending,

Cut from a tangle

Of thorns a long bramble,

Twist it around

To a ring on the ground,

Pretend you would enter,

Then spit in the center,

And turn back his harm

By repeating this charm:

DUMUS DIABOLO!

ILLIGO ILLICO!

To Reject the Evil Self

The guilt that rests upon your head,

The evil stain upon your hand,

May be removed: go forth and cast

Your shadow dark upon the land-

Pierce the image with a stake

And drive it with a heavy stone;

Let both weapons stay to mark

The deed you shed, the self you scorn.

To Be Rid of Anger

If the house is infected by a rage that will not be appeased, whether yours or another's, you must find a toad in the garden and shut him up in a wicker basket. Take this to where the Afflicted sleeps and set it beneath his bed, letting it remain there through a whole night. In the morning draw the basket out, bear it to a crossroads, and release the toad with these words:

Hence, toad,

Take thy road,

Get thee gone

And all thy bane;

Carry this anger

To a stranger,

Bring it never

Home again.

To Sweeten Another's Disposition

Thus turn his scorn to kindest love:

Steal from him the left-hand glove;

With shining sugar fill it full

And tie it, that it may not spill,

With satin ribbons, blue and green;

Then when the deed may pass unseen,

Hide it underneath his pillow-

He shall sleep, and melt, and mellow.

To Enchant an Apple

Pick your apple

When the moon

Has waned three days;

Breathe upon

Its green cheek,

Rub it with

A scarlet cloth,

Saying:

Fire sweet

And fire red,

Warm the heart

And turn the head.

Kiss the red half,

Put it later

In another's hand-

Who holds it

Shall weaken,

Who eats it

Shall be yours.

A Love-Potion

For a potion to excite another's affections, take a gill of good red wine and add to it these: a tea-spoonful each of rosemary leaves, of anise-seed, of cloves, of clear honey, and of orange rind, with a pinch of ground cumin and three green leaves from the rose-geranium. Mix them in a saucepan over the fire and bring all to boiling, then gently stir and simmer them while you slowly count to one hundred. Remove the pan to a cool place until its contents cease to steam; then strain them through a fine sieve, and return the liquid to heat again upon the fire. When sweet vapors rise, pour the potion into a cup and deliver it to the one whose love you would sweeten and warm; it shall not fail, unless performed by one whose heart and household keep slatternly habits.

To Win Another's Love

Open a bird that is soon to be roasted,

Draw from its body the shining heart,

Let it with drops of blood be basted,

Seethe it in wine and set it apart;

When it is cool, in your left hand take it;

Squeezing it tight as your fingers can,

Say these words to warm it and wake it,

So to possess any maiden or man:

My fire is thine,

Thy blood my wine:

Thy love, my dove,

Must soon be mine.

Halve, with the blade of a silver knife,

Its yielding flesh, delicious and sweet,

Then taste it, munch it, swallow its life-

Next to your own heart shall beat.

A Fire-Spell, for Love

Take twelve candles, white and tall,

Dress them with sweet-scented oil,

Set them on a table spread

With velvet cloth of ruby-red

To form a figure of three sides;

Light their wicks, then say these words:

Fire, Spirit of the Sun,

Wax, thou melting Flesh of Earth,

Prove this work that I have done,

Bring me love, and beggar Death:

Let me be myself consumed

Not by darkness but by light,

Warmth, not cold, until I spend

My final flame against the night.

Watch the candles downward burn,

In their sockets let them drown;

Give the wick-ends to that one

Whose love must be your Earth and Sun.

To Enchant a Ring, for Marrying

Buy a ring of common metal,

Plain and narrow, colored gold,

To fit the wedding-finger well;

Drop it in a vessel filled

Half with wine and half with water,

Add one oak leaf, one of willow,

Two of bay and two of grass,

And the name of whom you love

Written on a silver paper;

Keep the vessel covered tight

Near a window, in the sun,

From crescent moon until the full-

Then rub the ring and wear it hidden

On a string around your neck;

But never tell the name you seek

Until you take it for your own.

A Charm to Send in the Name of Love

Fold a white paper

In half three times,

On one of the squares

Inscribe this rhyme,

In ink like blood

Or crimson wine:

Drawn from my hand

These words run blood

Or wine, not ink,

Thy lip to woo:

So may they spend

My heart's sweet flood,

Bidding thee drink

The love I brew.

Kiss it, address it,

And send it away,

But keep your name secret

A year and a day.

For Looking into Mirrors

Look to the left,

Look to the right,

Look in the glass

And say these lines:

Quicksilver

Mirror silver

Show me

My true face.

Look at your eyes:

If their black centers

Be shrunk and small,

The mirror lies.

To Be Said When Passing a Cemetery

Knit your fingers,

Hold your breath,

Say to yourself

This verse of Death:

Keeper of bones

I know thy face,

But I shall yet

Outstrip thy pace.

A Pact With a Tree, for Longevity

Seek the darkness of a wood

Where oak and elm and maple brood,

Kneel before the greatest tree

That stands among that company,

Bury near its roots profound

A penny in the yielding ground,

Rise, and trace upon its bark

This verse, the covenant to mark:

Ancient tree

I offer thee

This mortal Coin

As gift and sign:

Guard my fate

Both soon and late,

And let my rust

Grow green at last.

Seal the burial with a stone;

Leave it, and do not return

Until one lunar month has passed,

Then go and part the fertile dust-

If the coin has changed to green,

The forest's years shall be your own.

A Moon-Vow, for the Loss of Weight

When the Moon shows cold and slender,

Stand beneath her starved light,

Wearing only white and silver-

Say, to whet her appetite,

I make my Vow to fast until

This crescent Moon shines round and full;

While she waxes let me wane:

I must lose, that she may gain.

While she grows, take silver wine,

Silver water, silver milk,

And bread like snow or linen fine,

And fish as clear as ice or silk-

But only these, and less of all

Than you would wish, to feed her well.

A Sage Tea, for the Mind

The gray-leaved sage

Stands fresh and fine

When even tress

Fall prey to Time;

Pluck its growth,

Brew an infusion

Against all darkness

And confusion;

Drink its strength,

With these words:

Sage make green

The winter rain:

Charm the demon

From my brain.

To Defeat the Demon Tobacco

Grasp the poison-breathing weed,

Give him fire for his greed,

Taste his sweet and cruel savior,

Smiling, praise his deadly favor;

Then when he suspects you least,

Quick deceive the subtle beast-

Break his back and crush to death

His fawning image on your hearth;

Say these words (and say them ever

When his downfall you would conjure:)

HERBA MALEFICA

ADURO

ADEDO

ADIMO

A Hollyhock Spell, for Riches

This Hollyhock blooms in Summer,

Its seeds in Autumn fall:

Then, in a folded paper,

Save them, gather them all-

The loose seeds,

The brown seeds,

The dry seeds,

The round seeds,

The seeds like tarnished pennies

That pay for the blossoms tall;

Bury their rusty treasure

Next to a southern wall-

With a mint coin,

An ancient coin,

A silver coin,

A copper coin:

By Spring your wealth shall measure

Twelve times this sowing small.

For Success on an Important Occasion

Steep in a bath

A bowlful of leaves

From three to four

Or five of these:

Marigold, Celery,

Mint and Grass,

Nasturtium, Parsley,

Fennel and Cress.

When the brew is green

And the steam is sweet,

Lie in the water

And thrice repeat:

I shall bathe

And I shall be

As green and strong,

Good herbs, as thee;

Draw me favor,

Draw me fame,

Draw bright honor

To my name.

Rise from the water

Thrice empowered;

Wear those virtues

You have conjured.

To Obtain a Particular Appointment or Position

When night has fallen fully,

Raise one candle's fire

And write on virgin paper

All that you desire;

If any man can aid you,

There inscribe his name,

Followed by these others

For Power, Skill, and Fame:

HELIMAZ

FERIDOX

SOLADAR

Brush every word thereon

With a ragged crust of bread;

Then shred the paper, soak it

In water tinted red;

Wring it, press it small

As a lump of sodden dough-

Fling it from the house

As far as it will go.

To Be Said When Crossing a Bridge

In air but not flying,

Nor on the earth walking,

Nor in a boat riding,

Still cross without doubting-

The way will uphold you

If you will say boldly:

Bridge, be strong

From end to end,

And let me pass

From land to land.

For a Safe Return

In a small bag

Of supple leather

Or brown cloth,

Assemble these:

A stone the size

Of a pigeon's egg,

A spoonful of ash

From the morning hearth,

A chip of bark

From the tallest tree,

A pinch of earth,

A curl of dust,

A blade of grass,

All gathered from

The place you leave;

Add a lodestone

Or a small magnet,

Tie the bag

With a strip of vine;

Wear it around

Your neck, on a thong-

Then do not grieve,

You must return.