Always write spells on clean paper and never on recycled paper, as this retains the memory of the words written before.

For the best times to perform a spell see my moon section

Writing your own spells
Writing spells isn't as hard as you might think.  Basically it is just using symbols for what it is you want to do.

Some Simple steps to writing spells

• Decide what you want to do the spell for.  eg:  for love, money, healing etc.
• Decide what kind of spell you want to do.eg: candle, herbal sachet, bath, cord etc.
• Find out (if you don't already know) the current phase of the moon, and which type of spell you should be performing, and if necessary, change your spell outcome slightly. eg: If the spell was to bring money, and you were in a waning moon, you would change the spell to banish poverty, rather than bring money.
• Find out what types of magick should be performed on this day, and which day (if that is not it) would be the best day to perform the spell, and if necessary, delay the spell so that you will perform it on the most suitable day eg:  Fridays are best for love spells etc.
• How elaborate do you want the spell to be?  eg: A fancy spell, with lots of steps, or a simple spell where you burn 1 candle?  Will you cast a circle?  Will you do the simple spell or turn it into a long ritual?
• Find all the correspondences for the type of spell you are wanting to do. eg: elements, stones, herbs, colours etc.
• Which of these correspondences will you use? eg: which are most useful? Easiest to use? Which do you have?  Which would you have to buy/pick/find?
• Will you have words in the spell?  (you don't have to) Will they rhyme? When writing a chant, work out what you want to say, and then find words that rhyme. if you can't. go back and change the first line, or have every second line rhyme.  Or you can just state what you want to achieve, and not rhyme.
• Will you charge an amulet or talisman? depending on the spell, you can charge a piece of jewellery etc. to wear while you are waiting for your spell to manifest
• What will you do after the spell? eg: Bury the spell ingredients?  Keep them?  If you want to dispose of something, then dispose of the spell ingredients, if you want to draw something to you.. keep the spell ingredients (or part of them) either forever, or until you get your desired effect, then dispose of them.
• Decide whether you *really* want the thing you are after or not.  are you going to phrase the question properly.?  Will it harm anyone? (unless of course that is the purpose of the spell, or you do not mind harming others) Could it possibly backfire?  (If so, try and think of writing the spell so that less could go wrong)

Using those guidelines.. here is a sample spell

1. Spell for love.  To bring love, not to target a specific person
2. Candle spell, and make a herbal bag to wear.
3. Moon is currently Full.(it probably isn't but pretending it is) so it is the prefect time for all spells.
4. Today is Thursday, (again it probably isn't.. but pretend it is)  the best day would be a Friday (ruled by Venus) but today is a day for luck, expansion, endurance etc.  so it would still work.  As endurance is one of today's powers, I will also ask for a love that will last.
5. Moderately elaborate,  I will add to the power by wearing a brand new robe of pink, and empower a rose quartz heart pendant to wear while I am looking for love.  I will bathe in rose petals, rose water and pink coloured water to purify and focus my intent before the ritual..  I will have a ring of red candles around the inside of the circle, and I will sprinkle rose petals heart shaped pieces of paper (like confetti) and pink glitter around the circle.  I will have an oil burner with rose oil in it.
6. The correspondences I will use are:  the colours red and pink, rose petals, the Goddess Aphrodite and the God Eros.  Rose quartz stone, a pink piece of cloth and pink ribbon for the bag, I will perform the spell on the
4th hour (Venus ruled).
7. The actual spell itself will be quite simple.  A white candle with my name scratched long the side .  A red candle with the word "love" scratched along its side.  I will place these touching each other on a plate and light
them saying:

"As these candles burn and the wax blends
so too shall love and I be entwined"

8. When the wax is in a puddle, I will sprinkle rose petals and pink glitter on it, and mould it into a ball (as much as possible), and place it in a pink cloth bag, with a piece of rose quartz, more rose petals, a few drops
of rose water and some more glitter
9. I will wear this bag all the time, until I find my lover, then I will keep it as a symbol of my enduring love for him.

To see this spell written up as an actual spell... go here
 

Still having trouble?

Make a note of spells that work, and spells that don’t work, so that you can try to find out why the ones that don’t work didn’t work ?  Some people keep a magickal journal called a “Book of Mirrors” in which they write all their thoughts and experiences with spell casting.  (Some people write this into their Book Of Shadows instead)  If you have trouble writing spells, try and think of them as a collection of symbols, work out the symbols for the thing you want, and then work out how to make them into a spell. for example:

Colours.... How can you use the colours for that spell - try candle colours, colours for robes or clothing you might wear, colour for a herbal/charm bag, colour of bath crystals. colour of the ink you use on the spell etc.
Numbers.......Are there any numbers for that type of spell - These can be used for the amount of candles you use, the times you chant something, the number of lines in your chant, the number of times you walk/dance around the circle, the amount of time you burn a candle down for, the number of different herbs you will use, the time of the day you do the spell at etc.
Herbs......What herbs are good for that type of spell - if you are going to use herbs you can sprinkle them around the circle, use them in a ritual bath, make a herbal/charm bag, make incense, make an oil for anointing candles, make an Ointment/salve/poultice from them, in some cases you can drink a herbal tea from them or add them to your wine, if you make your own spell candles you can add them to that etc.
Symbols..... Are there any symbols for your spell - Like Love hearts being symbolic of love. You could use these symbols on your altar, carve them into candles, add them to a charm bag (like 3 leaved clovers for luck), make the image (or item) into a talisman or amulet etc.
Actions……If you want to bring something to you (Love, luck etc.) move candles closer together, place something on a photo of you, join 2 things together, tie 2 things together etc.  If you want to banish something (Negativity, excess weight etc.)  Move candles further apart, throw something away, bury something (off your property), break something, burn something etc.  If you want to stop something (Gossip, lies, negativity etc.) You can freeze paper with the words written on it, put it in a box on a high shelf etc.  And so on.

-- that is just some of them... but hopefully it will give you some ideas.

As for the chant... that bit is harder unless you are poetic (which I am not)... so when I make up spells, I try and work out what it is I want to achieve.. and that's what I want to say. You can just say it, or you can come up with a rhyming way of saying it. Here are some parts from spells I have written:

 You can have each second line rhyme..

"Athena, Aphrodite, Ishar, Isis!
Magickal Goddesses of love,
Please send to me a perfect partner
A gift from you above!"

You can have each line rhyme...

"We were bound, now we're free,
The choice is ours, so Mote it be!"

You can have the 1st rhyme and the 2nd rhyme etc....

"Element of Fire I ask of you,
Bring me balance through and through.
Stronger in you, I need to be,
Grant your power in to me!"

And any other combinations you can think of.

More information about spellcasting can be found in  "Obsidian's Book Of Shadows", from Obsidian's SpellCasting booklet or from Obsidian's Classes.  Available from:.