A Witch's World of Magick (12 page)

Common Threads and New Perspectives

In this chapter, we’ve surveyed some ways in which magicians around the world have used knots to control, ensnare, reserve, restrain, harness, and restrict energy. We’ve seen that these actions can be applied against any number of forces, from the wind to a lover, from an intention to an enemy. We know that the magick encased in such a knot can be easily unleashed or undone through the simple expedient of untying, and we understand one advantage of the knot charm is in this flexibility. While materials used in knot magick may range from a naturally occurring willow knot to a simple piece of string, we’re aware of the potential benefits in choosing a material that relates in some way to its intended purpose. We’ve learned that multiple energies can be bound into single knots or multiple knots, and that singular energies can be bound in increments, with power and essence distributed equally among several knots. Though ultimately simple and straightforward, like all magickal arts, so too can knot magick become as complicated and complex as you wish. All magick is a way of forging connections, and the ties that bind a knot charm can indeed run deep.

Knot Magick Spell

Now it’s time to try your own powerful knot magick. Begin by deciding on a purpose for your knot charm. Do you have a bad habit you’d like to get under control, or is there an evil empire somewhere in the world that needs shutting down?

Once you’ve decided on the energies that need restricting, choose a string or other material in which to set your charm. Is the knot charm going to be used to attract a lover? If so, consider red or pink string, or a “romantic” material such as silk or satin for your spell. Is the knot charm intended to restrict an enemy, or another dangerous or baneful force? Consider tying your knots in “heavy” materials such as faux leather, vines, or even metal wire to bind up these powerful energies. Is your knot charm meant to store personal intentions, holding these energies close to your side? If so, you might choose strings or other materials with color symbolism in mind—just match the string color to your particular personal goal.

Once you’ve selected the material and the general intention of your spell, hold the string or whatever else you’re using firmly in your hand. Think of the essence, the energies of the force you wish to bind, contain, or restrict. Consciously direct this energy into the thread. You’ll want to actually
name
the string for the thing you’re binding, i.e., “This is not a piece of yarn, but my nicotine addiction I bind,”
etc.

Tie the object into an appropriate number of knots; a single knot works well for binding a single foe, three is a good number for love, four is a number that can bring structure and confinement, seven is a good number for luck, and nine is a powerful number for binding and defense. As you tie the knots, envision the energy therein encased being twisted back on itself, bound and restricted within the form of the knot.

When your knot charm is complete, you might place it somewhere safe, carry it with you, or bury it. If you should decide you want to undo the magick, simply untie the knot to release the energies previously bound.

Points to Ponder

• Is all binding magick “bad”? Why or why not? Is binding the free will of an enemy a different cup of tea, morally, than is binding, say, your own bad habits or limiting beliefs? Why or why not?
  
• Just as the smugglers in the Welsh fairytale used knots in their kerchief to hold flies for later use, might a witch use a knotted string to hold an extra boost of courage or magickal charm to use when needed?
  
• This chapter discussed the Roma use of naturally occurring willow knots. Why do you think willow knots were seen as magickal? Could it be that just as a man-made knot can store energy, a natural knot in a willow can collect and hold a high concentration of the tree’s magickal power?
  
• Knot charms are magickal objects that can be activated by anyone, whether or not they crafted the spell themselves. Can you think of other spell items whose magick could potentially be set into motion by a stranger? Is there a risk in using such spellcrafting techniques? Are there precautions a person could take to reduce this risk?
  
• If a witch is using a knot charm to restrict the actions of several powerful forces at once, is there an advantage to casting the spell into multiple knots, or would it be better to bind the energies of all these separate forces into a single knot? If circumstances change and the witch decides to unbind
  just one of the several forces contained within the knot
  charm, would her method of releasing this individual energetic essence change depending on whether or not multiple knots or a single knot was used in the original spell?
  
• What particular fabrics do you think would be good to use for a knot charm to restrain the poaching of endangered animals? What color string or other material might you
  use in a knot charm for defense against a threatening foe?
  
• Might a witch use a knot charm to create a lucky talisman, using the twisted form of the knot to house desired energies chosen to attract good vibrations? What type of string or other materials would you use for such a charm?
  
• Could a knot charm be placed in a necktie, bracelet, necklace, shoelace, or purse string? Why might a person do so? Could a knot charm be incorporated into a hairstyle? What purposes might such a charm serve? What other applications of knot magick can you think of?
  

[contents]

51.
W. Jenkyn Thomas
, The Welsh Fairy Book
(1908; repr., Charleston, SC: BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2008), 167.

52.
A. W. Moore
, FolkLore of the Isle of Man
(London: D. Nutt, 1891), 76, accessed June 1, 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu//celt/fim/fim08.htm.

53.
Sir James George Frazer
, The Golden Bough
(1922; repr., New York: Bartleby.com, 2000), Chapter 5, Section 4, “The Magical Control of the Wind,” accessed January 9, 2012, http://www.bartleby.com/196/13.html.

54.
E. W. West, trans.
, Pahlavi Texts, Part III, Sacred Books of the East, Volume 24
(New York: Clarendon, Oxford University Press, 1885), 270, accessed May 9, 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.com/zor/sbe24/sbe24098.htm.

55.
Charles Godfrey Leland
, Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling
(London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1891), 110, accessed January 2, 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gsft/gsft09.htm.

56.
Charles Godfrey Leland, 110–111, accessed January 2, 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gsft/gsft09.htm.

57.
Ibid.

58.
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
, FolkLore of Women
(Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., London: Elliot Stock, 1906), Chapter XXIII, accessed May 1, 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/fow/fow25.htm.

Five

Nail It Down:
Insert Magick Here

F
rom nails pounded into binding tablets to thorns thrust into poppets, puncturing and insertion is a multi-purpose magickal technique employed in spellcrafting practices around the world, useful for binding, containing, combining, transferring, and transforming energy. In this chapter, we’ll examine some traditional applications of this magickal act, and you’ll learn how to apply the time-honored principles of puncturing and insertion in your own practice.

Puncturing and Insertion
Magick Around the World

One of our best known examples of puncturing and insertion magick comes to us in the form of binding tablets. Also called curse tablets or
defixiones
, from the Latin
defigere
, meaning to fix, fasten, or nail down, these magickal objects generally took the form of a sheet of lead inscribed with a curse, usually rolled up or folded and often pierced through with nails. The use of curse tablets was widespread in the Greco-Roman world for several centuries, and well over a thousand of these tablets have been found all around the Mediterranean region, with tablets dating from around 500 BCE.
⁵⁹

While not all curse tablets were punctured, the practice was nonetheless common and widespread. As these curse tablets were usually placed in hard-to-reach areas such as in wells and in graves, the nails often used to hold them together were not so much a matter of practical security as they were a matter of practical magick.
⁶⁰
The act of puncturing a curse tablet with nails worked to further bind the contents of the spell, not through physical binding, but rather through a magickal binding.

One first-century tablet found in London contains seven nail holes. The tablet is not folded, and the nails were driven in from the blank side, indicating the nails had a magickal purpose rather than a utilitarian one.
⁶¹
Frequently, it seems the nails were included to add power to the curse text, which in this particular seven-holed tablet calls for the secrecy and silence of an enemy.

Some curse tablets are very elaborate, containing lengthy hexes, incantations, and symbols, while others are quite simple. The oldest examples contain only the names of the intended victims,
⁶²
while several tablets found in France contain no writing at all.
⁶³
Where cursing language is included in the tablets, we find words demanding binding, restriction, constraint, and control, while in other tablets the binding and restricting seems to be carried out primarily through the physical binding of the tablet itself—by folding, rolling, and/or
puncturing
it.

Multi-layered magick was carried out in both the creation and activation of the curse tablets, and puncturing was but one possible element commonly employed. The act of pounding nails into the tablets worked to further “fix” and constrain the target of the spell, adding power to the spoken incantations, written inscriptions, invocations, rituals, and other elements already incorporated into the design and implementation of the curse tablet. Even the choice of materials for both tablet and puncturing nail may have been infused with magickal intent. Lead, for instance, while not the sole material chosen for the creation of curse tablets, was indeed a quite common selection for reasons both practical and magickal. Lead was a readily available material, very malleable and practical for inscribing and rolling, but it also had a magickal signature that made it a desirable medium for a binding spell. The nature of lead is cold and rather dull, making it well suited for a spell meant to induce a restriction or “freeze” of some sort. One third-century tablet states that, “Just as this lead is useless, so too may the words and deeds of those listed here be useless,” while another proclaims that their victims shall become “as cold and useless as the lead.”
⁶⁴
The nails used to puncture and bind curse tablets were also selected for reasons both practical and magickal. Nails were typically made of iron or bronze, two common, readily available materials associated also with strength or defense. Some magicians would go through great lengths to obtain nails of a greater rarity and thus a greater power or malignancy, collecting nails from shipwrecks, coffins, and even crucifixions. As such nails were believed to have a connection to death and the underworld, they were considered especially potent.
⁶⁵

Sometimes, nails were incorporated in objects used in conjunction with the binding tablet itself. For example, one fourth-century Greek formula for a binding spell intended to force love called for the binding tablet to be accompanied by two clay figures, one representing the person for whom the spell is performed and the other representing the desired lover to be attracted. The figure representing the desired lover is pierced with thirteen copper needles—one in the top of the head, two in the soles of the feet, two in the ears, two in the eyes, one in the mouth, two in the stomach, two in the hands, and one between the legs. While this was done, the spellcaster would recite magickal words describing the act of puncturing: “I pierce the (whatever part of so and so) so that she may remember no one but me alone, (so and so).”
⁶⁶

Just as is the case with the curse tablets, the puncturing of the clay image here is an act of sympathetic, imitative magick, mimicking a desired effect of constraining, controlling, and restricting.