Practical Witchery!, John Stormm [ap literature book list txt] 📗

me in so many ways that I can’t even describe to another human being. I knew what she was and what faction (angelic, demonic or fae) she hailed from. It is not something that can be easily hidden from other hybrids or full bloods. Even some humans know something’s not right when they meet us.

Because of all the pain I had with Shabriri, I thought I’d have to be mad to take up in a relationship with a half breed demoness. No matter how lovely or how nice she was. I was polite and friendly. I couldn’t be otherwise to her or most of you. It is my nature. But I was careful not to get closer than I was and went off believing I would be safe and “normal” in a relationship with a fully human woman of my choosing. Can you see how wrong I was and why I believed I was so right?

I wasn’t just wrong once.  I did it again a few years later with a born again Christian woman. She didn’t get possessed by someone else like Lillith, but she got manipulated and no doubt tormented deep in her soul to drive her to betray me. It seems that no matter which way I turned and for the best of whatever reasons, I was going to be proven wrong. My best consolation is in my children and grand children, some of whom even love me.

It’s not a universal concept among them, but you can’t win them all. You *can* win *some*, and that makes life worth living for someone like me. I hope this lengthy treatise gives you something you can use in a tight spot, such as they are known to happen.  However, having said as much as I have here, on this particular topic:  It is FAR from being the sum total of what needs to be said, that will give you a better handle on the nature of these types of phenomenon.  I'll be getting into better detail of the identifying of species, and commanding of such entities in my chapter:  Non-Corporeals 101, later on in this book.  Bless you all.

 

The Precept of the Hex Jar

 (or “How Not to Get Pissed On Regularly”)

The precepts that make a Hex Jar work are the same as what makes the Law of Three work AND addresses the issue of what a witch may rightly do to address a perceived wrong without calling down “bad karma” upon their own head by initiating evil in the form of a curse. The Threefold Law is our first precept here: Anything we do, be it good or ill, comes back on us threefold. The next precept is that for every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.

Someone hurts you. You want to hurt them back. When you push an object, it moves in the direction pushed and to stop that from happening requires significant energy to stop it. The same is true for the human psyche. We are known that if we are pushed too often and fail to react by bottling it up inside, that the energy festers and is eventually released in self destructive ways… high blood pressure, hypertension, insomnia and even psychotic episodes in extreme cases. So then, it is wise to find an acceptable release for this energy, but there is still more to contemplate about this.

The next precept is: There are at least two sides to every story. The more entities involved, the more sides to consider for the fuller picture. We do not possess the omnipresence of a god nor such wisdom. Perhaps the evil done to us by that person was not out of a malicious heart but a misunderstanding on one or BOTH of your parts. Because a bad thing happened, does not mean it was evil intent but may even have been meant to bring about a greater good (such as a hand slapping or spanking for an unruly child). To fling a curse at a perceived enemy under the presumption that it is “righteous retribution” can well be a horrible error in judgment. But what to do?

We can’t allow ourselves to be eternal victims, nor can we just bottle up our indignation as if it all doesn’t matter. Perhaps, if we could just address our issues before Deity and leave the retribution to come as it naturally will as a curse locked in a bottle, to be paid as Deity sees fit and our cry is heard. Thus, the Hex Jar.

 

Symbology is important in spellcraft. As spells often are cast in specific lunar cycles (I.e.- full moons for light work spells and new moon for darker varieties) I choose a lunar white birch parchment for my medium, a raven’s feather quill (though sometimes I just use a fine point black marker) and an airtight re-sealable, glass canning jar. I mark my jar with a skull and crossbones and craft my initial spell under a new or moonless night. My intentions are as dark as they can be for this and must be expressed if I’m to get any benefit out of this spellwork for my own peace of mind so my symbolism is as dark and dreadful as I can make it. The jar is also marked with a warning not to be opened. But, YOU as the maker may open it as needed.

After the jar is crafted, cut a small square of the parchment and ink your petition/prayer/spell on it as the first entry for your Hex Jar. I chose the following wording for mine (in advance…it should be proof read). You may word yours differently, but pay special attention as to HOW I worded it and why I chose my words as such. These curses are not meant to go off half cocked. They are fully cocked, locked and loaded for bear… with the safety on just in case it’s not really a bear.

 Editor’s Note: As these are intended only as examples, it is assumed that the reader possesses the spiritual maturity to address whatever Deity they recognize by whatever names they know and not take these examples as a call to worship or adhere to someone else’s dogma. Terms are intended as “generic” here.

“The names in this jar are those who have done evil to me or mine. My anger is not without a cause but rather than taking vengeance at my own hand, I leave their names sealed in this Hex Jar, that God alone may reward them according to their deeds. Be it in judgment or mercy as is right according to circumstance. Hear my plea for justice and deliver me from indiscriminate wrong doing. It is my hearts desire to remove these names one day as wrongs are atoned or forgiven and burned with incense so that I may pray for their growth and blessing. If such is not to be than let them reap their just rewards.

-Stormm“

This page becomes the talisman left in the bottom of the Hex Jar to define its use. After the jar and talisman have been crafted, I cut strips of the birch parchment and write the names of those who have wronged me in such a way that I have ill will towards them (usually in Runic script, but any will do). I like using the raven’s quill pen with dark ink, but sometimes this smears and it becomes hard to read and if I see evil happen to the individual in question or they come admitting the error of their ways and ask forgiveness, I then will pull out their name and burn it with a little incense and offer up a prayer for their greater good. I take a certain private joy in that. If they suffer some big malady and I think they had enough, I do the same with a little satisfaction in my heart. If they continue their wicked ways, I take heart that their time will come with the appropriate rewards. Either way, I win.

 

Intuition in The Craft

 

The point of this chapter is, that most witchy types, psychics, shamans and creative people are said to possess an unusual amount of intuition and this will manifest is a whole range of ways. For instance, there is the form known as “second sight” which comes to those more visually oriented. A waking dream or vision of something about to happen or has already happened. Sometimes this occurs in dreaming and gives the sense of déjà vu. Some can initiate this effect by laying out cards or runes, scrying into water, crystal or fire or even by blindfolding and depriving their eyes of vision long enough for a second set of eyes to kick in. They see an event or an object or person in their mind’s eye and then interpret the significance of the vision. Sometimes, the whole key to understanding the vision is in the interpretation of what is seen as actual or symbolic, past, present or future. Vagueness in such dreams is a maddening trait, but sometimes that is precisely what is needed to spur our looking deeper into them.

But second sight is not the only manifestation of intuitive faculties. It seems the whole gamut of sensory perceptions has deeper qualities that effect their holders. Clairaudients hear voices or things that others in the room may never be aware of. They hear snatches of conversations and events whispered in the winds or in running water or anywhere “white noise” is available. This is a tendency that runs parallel to the visionary who might use a glimmer of white light to spur their second sense into action. There is also the sensory deprivation tanks which open a soul up to finding input by other means.

Truth all told, intuition comes in all forms and combinations of forms to different people. Something may not *smell* right to one person. That person may leave a *bad taste* in our mouths. A *gut reaction* may leave us not *feeling* right about something or feeling a pair of eyes boring into the backs of our heads.

It would appear that all of our senses have a second set, or even more that reach beyond the four dimensional physics our present tense universe operates in. Four and not just three because there are truly three dimensions of occupied space and one of time. Anyone who has ever had to rendezvous at some point or fired a rifle at a clay pigeon is well