Spells are a way of focusing magic. Spells can rhyme or not, be said aloud, chanted or sung. Spells often involve some physical object to aid the magic force.
The use of objects in spells is considered sympathetic magic, as the magic draws in sympathy with the qualities or energies of the object used.
Common spells include those for protection, love, and prosperity. Some spells involve the use of bottles to hold the ingredients, or small dolls called poppets to represent the target of the spell.
A Love Spell
For a spell to draw love to a Wiccan, the Wiccan might make a small poppet to represent herself. She could use red fabric to represent passion, white thread to represent purity or honesty, stuff it with rose petals sacred to a love Goddess, and perhaps strands of her own hair to connect the poppet to her own energies.
To activate the spell, the Wiccan might dedicate the poppet to a love Goddess, and chant words she wrote describing what she wants in a lover. It is considered bad form to focus a love spell on a specific person, or to try to make a specific person fall in love with a Wiccan.
A Protection Spell
If a Wiccan feels in need of protection from someone specific, she might create a protection spell meant to bind another person’s power to cause harm. This can be done by wrapping an object associated with the person to be magically bound in a cord or rope.
A Wiccan might also make a more general protection bottle, into which she would put herbs and elixirs that have qualities of protection. She might then bury the bottle on her property.
A spell, like magic in general, can be good or bad, positive or negative. Wiccans are guided by their Rede and the Law of Threefold Return, and so try to use magic for positive purposes.
Reincarnation
Many Wiccans believe in reincarnation, which is the concept that a soul, or human spirit, lives on after death to inhabit another human body. This occurs in cycles in order for life lessons to be learned, and so that a soul can progress toward completion.