Old Incantations
by Jeffrey Pierce

Find a container that can hold water - a bowl, a jar, a cup or a glass - it doesn't really matter what you use. If it's a glass or jar it should be made from clear glass and the container should have a standard (round) opening. Fill it with tap water (at least three quarters full) from the kitchen sink.

Carry the container somewhere (a windowsill, a safe place on a back porch or apartment balcony) where it can "see" the moon. Hold the container in both hands, close your eyes, and picture the container sitting under the moon and absorbing the moonlight until the water glows with its own light. Set the container in its place and leave it there for at least the next three days. (You can leave it there until we do the ritual, but it three days is traditionally the minimum amount of time). After you've set the container in its place, say two simple words.

In case you're curious about the language we used in the second ritual in our daily paganism course, it’s an old form of magick that I was taught by a very dear teacher of mine. As the story goes, it actually predates European folk magick and came into being separately from the Egyptian magickal traditions (where it is believed that much of Western occultism has its roots.)

In modern paganism, many of us are accustomed to flowery words with fancy titles in our rites. We use titles, concepts, and specific names of gods and goddesses. ("Hail Watchtower of the East, home of the Elemental spirits of Air!") A slightly older form of magick than that modern approach suggests that rhyming should be a significant part of our incantations. In fact, the "long version" of the Wiccan Rede eludes to this tradition when it says, "To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme."

I don't recall if I was ever given a name for the incantation system we used in our second ritual, but it's pretty simple - yet quite powerful. The concept is to establish a series of three - and where possible, layer that triad symbolism. In today's lesson we used the following incantation:

In this approach, the number three is relied upon for its magickal properties. For instance, there are three sections to the incantation. Each line has three words. The latter part of each section, "Ocean in blood, blood is life" is repeated three times. While many modern pagans will tell you that "three is a magick number" because it's associated with the Goddess (her aspects number three: Maiden, Mother, Crone), I was given a much more practical reason. "One is a anomaly. Two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern." When you're seeking to transform reality, even in very simple ways, you need to establish a pattern for your change to follow.

The incantation also functions on three different levels - which is key when working magick (and a skill we'll pick up along the way). First, the incantation can be read straight through like a poem. Second, lines two and three in each stanza form a foundation for the first line to change upon. (The second and third lines remain the same; the first line is different each time). This symbolizes the change that we're creating in the water. The third way to read it is the secret way - and all good magick has a secret.

Connecting salt water, the ocean, and our blood is incredibly powerful symbolic magick, so much so that I always add salt to the water in the bowl or cauldron that I'm working with. What many of us don't realize is that ocean water and our blood are unbelievably similar in ionic composition. (Saline solution - sterile salt water - is also used frequently in intravenous drips in medicine.) Remember, symbolism is the language of magick. When we connect ourselves (blood) to the ocean and the ocean to the moon (the gravitational pull of the moon is responsible for ocean tides) we are using that symbolism to connect us to the moon as well. Because symbolism is the language of magick, this connection isn't only to our bodies, but is linked to our intent as well. From a magickal perspective, our intent, the water, and the lunar energy are all synthesized into one powerful whole - and that lends extra power to our rite.

What's more - and this is key - is that symbolic magick also has levels. At its base level is the symbolism many of us were taught on our magickal paths. For instance, if you started talking about magick and laid out the colors yellow, red, blue and green, many pagans would instantly think, "Air, Fire, Water and Earth." This is what I refer to as "flash card symbolism." However, symbolism goes much deeper than that. What we're using in the above incantation is what I call "connective symbolism." The concept is pretty simple. You can take concepts "salt, moon, blood" and connect those concepts by what they have in common, in this case the "ocean." Salt typically comes from the ocean (I actually use sea salt in my rites for just this reason). The moon pulls on the ocean to create the tides. The ionic composition of our blood is incredibly similar to the composition of salt water in the ocean. The ocean acts as a "common denominator" linking these concepts together and further strengthening the composition of the rite.

Thoughts? Comments? You can contact us at connect@oldways.com or interact with Jeffrey, Briana, and the Old Ways community on our Facebook page.

Originally published in Old Ways on November 12, 2010