The Craft: An Essential Guide to Successful Witchery

Celebrate the changing of the seasons and the beauty and power of the Moon, the Stars, and the Sun. Written by a Witch who has spent many years teaching the Craft of Wicca to newcomers, The Craft is an accessible introductory guide that presents everything you need to know for successful witchery, including:

• An essential set of instructions and guidelines for beginning the practice of the Ancient Arts
• An overview of Wiccan beliefs, laws, rules, and principles
• Directions for creating and using basic tools of the Craft—athame, wand, cup, pentacle, cauldron, broom, black mirror, and meditation
• Easy-to-follow instructions for altar set-up, circle-casting, building power, deity invocation, and more
• An assortment of miscellaneous spells, chants, and invocations for a variety of purposes
• How to walk the path of the Witch—live in harmony and balance, and discover the sacred within the natural world

In the following excerpt, author Dorothy Morrison discusses "magical boosters"—the practice of using natural correspondences to increase the chances of a spell's success. Here, she presents the magical correspondences for the days of the week.

Magical Boosters: Working with the Days of the Week
Since each day is ruled by a different planet and every planet exudes its own individual energy, most practitioners choose to perform spells on a day that is in sync with their magical intent. While this could postpone the work for a few days, the delay is always well worth the wait. Why? Because matching intent to the proper planetary influence not only empowers the magic at hand, but also, to a large degree, eliminates the possibility of cosmic error.

While that's certainly reason enough to cross-match intent with an appropriate day of the week, my thinking goes one step further. Because performing successful magic is a time-consuming process, it only makes sense to get it right the first time. There's just no point in wasting precious time and energy if you're working against stacked odds.

A love spell, for example, has little or no chance for success if it is performed on a Tuesday. That's because Tuesday is ruled by Mars, the planet of war. But if you performed it on Friday, it's chances would be much better. Why? Because Friday is ruled by Venus, the planet of love. You get the idea.

For this reason, always check the Influences Chart when preparing for magic. Not only will it clear the path for success, but also it will save you tons of time and energy in the long run.

Influences Chart
Sunday: This day is ruled by the Sun. It provides excellent energy for efforts involving general success, business partnerships, job promotions, business ventures, and professional success. Magical work involving friendships, joy, and mental or physical health also benefit from this influence.

Monday: Monday belongs to the Moon. Its energy benefits efforts that deal with women, the family, home and hearth, the garden, and medicine. It also boosts rituals involving psychic development and prophetic dreaming.

Tuesday: Mars rules Tuesday. Try it for work involving men, conflict, physical endurance and strength, lust, hunting, sports, and all types of competition. It's also a great tool for rituals that deal with surgical procedures or political ventures.

Wednesday: Wednesday is ruled by Mercury. Its energy is most beneficial for spellwork involving writers, poets, actors, teachers, and students. That's because its influence vibrates toward inspiration, communications, the written and spoken word, and all forms of study, learning, and teaching. It also provides a good time to begin efforts that deal with self-improvement or understanding.

Thursday: Jupiter governs Thursday, and influences work that involves material gain, general success, accomplishment, honors and awards, or legal issues. Its energies also benefit matters of luck, gambling, and prosperity.

Friday: Friday belongs to Venus, the planet of love. Since its energies are warm, sensuous, and fulfilling, it's of greatest benefit to efforts involving matters of the heart, pleasure, comfort, and luxury. Use it, too, for any magical work that deals with music, the arts, or aromatherapy.

Saturday: Saturn, the planet of Karma, presides over this day. It provides excellent conditions for efforts that involve reincarnation, karmic lessons, the mysteries, and wisdom. Its energies also benefit any work that deals with the elderly, death, or the eradication of pests and disease.