If you have not already read the main page on magic, please do this first.
We have explained that we view as magic is miracles that we can control. We have also said that it is not essential to understand why they work, just that they do, although we strive to understand how and how to control these skills as well.
We have many types of magic, and these can be broken into groups several ways, looking for historically example on those that effect the physical world, sometimes referred to as low magic or Thaumaurgy, and magic to acquire a higher state of being, called high magic or Theurgy. Some magicians will work only in one are or the other. Many will work routinely with high magic and only work low magic when it works in harmony with natural forces.
Today most Water Witches try to classify magic by the method used, and therefore the craft skill that is needed. In recent times we have tried where we can to use the same terms as others, ie aromatherapy to include all spells connected with smell. In many cases this has meant that we can combine our knowledge with that of other practitioners of the healing arts. In most cases those new to the craft are now encouraged to first practice healing arts that are widely known, and only when they have become proficient as published, would our experts look to teach them extra knowledge to expand their range of craft skills on this area, unless there is a specific reason why they might want to have other specific knowledge early on.
Having undertaken this classification, of the healing arts, we still have within our craft many areas that are not duplicated, although some do overlap. Rakie for example overlaps with faith healing and our ability to lay on hands. Raikie was modified from its original form to be acceptable for a Christian audience in the west, and to make it more commercially profitable. We are not criticizing this as it has clearly been found helpful to many people. It may be that if we were able to get back to its original form, we may find it far more compatible with the methods we use. It may be argued by some that many areas are psychological, or work on a totally psychosomatic level, in the same way as it is said the majority of cures by both GP's and witchdoctors do.
Even taking out the overlaps we still have left some areas of our magic, that to many in the left brain, hard fact, scientifically reasoned west may appear waco, or plain crazy. This is what many think of when you mention witchcraft, spells, talisman, amulets, charms, calling forth entities, and the whole area of ritual magic. However very many people have superstitions, family traditions, pray, and feel a difference when entering churches and some other places. More people in the west believe in UFO's than in any god, and most people have no understanding why historically so many people from all parts of the planet needed to worship a god in some form. Some who do believe refer to the none believers as sleepers, this is not an insult, but recognizing that part of their being is permanently asleep. Some sleepers do go to churches, because they have been told to, to make the best business contacts or to gain a level of super respect for themselves, however they are still sleepers because they do not share their being with the superior being, whatever name you give him, her, or it. Likewise there are sleepers running religious groups some of who openly state that they do not believe in their own doctrine, and look on it as a career.
Many of you reading this will be asking yourself the same questions, is there anything in this, are they a load of nuts, or people with an alternative agenda, financial, sexual, partying, hooked on something or just plain crazy. Others will get hung up on how old the knowledge is, in other words did we get it from way back or just make it up.
I want to get you just to try an experiment now, cup your hands as if they were holding water, and now move them so they overlap as if you were holding a butterfly trapped within, close your eyes and imagine a pool of water, a tap flowing or a waterfall, while concentrating on your hands. You hopefully will feel the gap between your hands getting warm, at first it will only be slightly warm, but practice and you will find it gets quite warm. Try it with an air gap between your hands, so you can see that its not just your natural body heat being trapped, in fact you will probably find it has greater effect. Next flatten your hands and repeat the experiment without allowing your hands to quite touch, and with your eyes still closed and you should find they have a force pulling them together, although to start you may need to move them towards and away from each other slowly slightly to notice it. This energy is in every persons body, and is part of the secret we all have that allows us to heal ourselves and others and to work magic.
Their are many more experiments that you can do as you develop your skills and you will find these on www.school-of-witchcraft.com.
As I hope we have shown you there are very many types of magic, and within the web site we are not going to try to show you how to use binding spells, knots, candles or any other type in detail, for two reasons, most of you are not yet fully ready to do this yet and secondly, because we do not know that you would not use it to harm someone. It would also not be likely to work, or not in a way that you recognized, and you would therefore on this limited experience class everything as unworkable.
However I would like to give you a few pointers, and tips. Where you hear of old spells involving what appears to be parts of living things, frogs, toads, rabbits ears, bats etc, these are or were nicknames for plants, and in many cases herbs. At no point that we are aware of did witches ever kill anything on any alter. Many religions did have offerings of live and dead creatures, and food, however if you look into this further you will find in all cases there were a class of priests who inherited these items and ate them themselves and often sold or traded the surplus. Today the produce collected at harvest festivals are sometimes sold and sometimes divided into parcels and given to selected individuals, and specified church collections are given to the priests running the churches.
Likewise you will find that some items are brought to some witchcraft rituals and form the basis of the celebration or party that follows.
Water Witches do not use blood in any way, we do not consecrate water into blood as Christians do or mix blood of individuals like north American Indians. Blood is largely water, and water can be got to hold a pattern or measure of an individual, animal or plant by a number of methods that does not involve cutting or harming anyone or anything. Water witches do take advantage of the skills of the medical profession, and add our abilities to them, often improving recovery and cutting down the need to long term medication. It should be pointed out that when you feel the need is reduced you should talk to your doctor and not just stop taking any medication.
Individual water witches, can achieve a lot, however with a coven you get more than the sum of the parts. One of the reasons why we find we have far greater success than people expect is that we are able to add together small effects from many craft areas. I will give you just one example of this that you can check out if you wish in other sources. The size of a woman's breasts. You will know that many young ladies every year feel the need for surgery to improve their appeal, and encounter many problems as result of this, what you may not know however is that the same effect can be achieved without surgery. How?, look at hypnotherapy and you will find a hypnotherapist can get a 10 to 15% increase by in effect restarting the growth process, based on historic experience in their deep memory. Look at creams and supplements openly available throughout Europe and you will find products providing up to about a 20% increase, based on herbal mixes and supplements, talk to a physiotherapist about exercise and again you will hear about small improvements, and look at posture, while you don't get an increase you get an equivalent visual effect. Add all small bits together across these and a few other areas and even allowing for some overlap in that some work in the same way, and you have just the effect you are looking for. Real magic. So would we approach the problem this way, not quite, we would start by looking at why the need existed, it may be that the real objective, for example to appeal more to an individual could be better approached another way, but if bust increase is the option chosen, then we could add together the sum of knowledge, or a wizard (witch who is consulted by other witches) might take the methods and put them all into one convenient package with a trance based spell within the circle to replace the hypnotherapy and a combined spell based on other component parts. As he or she would know that working together, and with your own abilities added the effect would be quicker and easier to complete.
I hope that within this page we have been able to demonstrate that much of our magic is explainable, and often it is just the method of achieving the ends which may appear at first to be a little strange.