The Element Encyclopedia of 1000 Spells: A Concise Reference Book for the Magical Arts. Judika Illes
to a great extent parallels the history of magic working. Although the smith is required by society, he and his family also remain apart and distinct. People need them, their services are necessary, yet people are afraid to get close to them, or allow them to live as fully integrated members of society. Their very power and skill sets them apart. The Bible associates ironworkers with the Kenites, descendants of Cain, a Jewish tribe that isn’t one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The most famous Kenite, the otherwise unarmed woman Jael, kills the fleeing enemy general Sisera with a hammer, one of the smith’s primary tools.
Ironworkers developed into nomads, traveling from town to town, village to village, staying as long as there was work, and then moving on. This is still true in parts of Africa and Western Asia. There are still Bedouin tribes who await the arrival of the smith to perform circumcisions.
Complicating the picture even further is that the smiths providing services to the majority culture are frequently members of minority groups. It is a complex relationship with tremendous potential for tension: the ironworker performs ritual functions and serves as a repository of spiritual knowledge for traditions that he may or may not share.
In Europe, smithcraft is associated with Tinkers, Travelers, and, most especially, the Romany, who traveled with the Tatar and Mongol armies, performing metalwork. Romany culture, as first witnessed by Europeans, is very typical of ironworking clans: the men were metal smiths while the women told fortunes. In rural Africa and Western Asia, smiths are frequently of Jewish origin, although their personal traditions may have veered far from conventional Judaism. Persecution of the Ethiopian Jewish community, the Beta Israel, derives both from their religion and from their traditional occupation as ironworkers. The Ineden, smiths associated with the at least nominally Muslim Tuareg, are also believed to be of Jewish origin. Distinct clans, they perform the role of general handymen for the majority group: blacksmith, jeweler, armourer, woodworker, healer, herbalist, poet, musician, singer, and general consultant on spiritual and traditional matters. Essential to traditional Tuareg culture, they are simultaneously of low status.
With the coming of Christianity, European ironworkers would be vilified and identified with the devil, who was frequently depicted in the guise of a smith. Some of their traditional spiritual power remained: in the original Gretna Green weddings, the couple was able to cross the border from England and be married by the smith.
Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, a famous Irish prayer attributed to the saint, calls on God for protection against “incantations of false prophets, against the black laws of paganism, against spells of women, smiths and druids, against all knowledge that is forbidden the human soul.”
Because one can safely assume that any modern metal has not been extracted from Earth using respectful, propitiating spells and rituals, any new metal with which you work should be thoroughly cleansed and charged. That said, silver and iron are both believed to be incorruptible; although they may be used for ill, malevolent vibrations should not cling to them as they will to other metals or materials.
Metal is incorporated into all manner of spells, from the simple to the complex. Metal steadily, constantly and consistently radiates its power: the spell, thus, keeps going even after initial human participation is ended. Magic rings, for instance, need to be initially crafted, charged, and consecrated but once this has been done, they radiate their own power, drawing toward you whatever they have been programmed to pull, even as your attention turns elsewhere.
Basic household and farm tools are often incorporated into magic spells. What we perceive as mundane was once recognized as exceptionally magically charged. The magic remains, it is human perception that changes. Hammers, knives, and other metal tools are shared by many occupations. The anvil is reserved for the smith and thus is full of power and sacredness.
An anvil converts to an altar and may be used as such even by someone who is not a smith. That person begins the following spell at Step 3 and assumes the role of the smith in Steps 6 and 7.
Anvil Blessing and Magical Activation Spell
1 Before the anvil is made, the smith prays and petitions that it will be reliable, powerful, and will bring luck.
2 When the anvil is complete, it’s hidden until its activation ceremony.
3 The owner of the new anvil gives a feast in honor of the anvil.
4 After drinking and dining, the anvil is brought out to receive the crowd’s admiration. Placed in the center of the table, it becomes an instant altar.
5 A white candle is placed atop the anvil, with another placed at each side, for a total of three candles.
6 The smith leads prayers that the anvil will bring healing, prosperity, and baraka.
7 The smith strikes the anvil for the first time, then the crowd showers it with offerings—small metal coins, libations of brandy—so that good fortune will be shared by all.
Spell-casting Using the Power of Minerals
“Minerals” includes rocks, crystals, and gemstones. Many associate crystals with New Age philosophy, but gemstone therapy and the magic of minerals are about as old age as you can possibly get. Modern magic is profoundly influenced by the power of iron, but prior to the Iron Age there was the Stone Age.
You think you’ve never accessed gem power? Most of us have, even if unwittingly. The diamond ring placed on the finger of an affianced woman serves to ensure sexual fidelity and relieve sexual inhibitions. Jeweled earrings, of all kinds, offer protection to a vulnerable threshold of the body. Many anthropologists assert that all jewelry originally derives from amulets. Alongside shells and seeds, the earliest jewelry was stone. Jewelry may be placed on the body carelessly. However, if it is combined with conscious intent, incantation, petition and/or visualization, something as simple as adorning the body becomes a powerful magic spell. Placing a ring, a bracelet or a locket on someone else’s body is potentially a discreet but very powerful method of casting a spell upon them.
Crystals are worn, placed upon altars, added to conjure bags, placed under pillows and used in a wide variety of spells. Beyond specific geologic analysis, distinctions between rocks, crystals, and gemstones tend to derive from human perception of value, with the term “gemstone” implying greatest value, “plain rock” the least. Of course, what’s valuable from a financial or aesthetic perspective may not correspond to magical value.
Every specific type of mineral formation, like each specific botanical, has its own hidden powers, attributes, and gifts. Like botanicals, from a magical perspective the mineral kingdom teems with life. The magical quality that characterizes the mineral kingdom (to distinguish it from others) is memory. Stones are believed to retain memories of everything that occurs to them or in their presence. They are Earth’s silent witness to history.
Because their nature is so different from our own, even more so than with botanicals, which are clearly born, eat, and die, it can be very difficult to perceive minerals as alive. Although anyone can access the magic power of crystals superficially just by tucking a crystal into a mojo hand, in order to work closely with them, it’s necessary to acknowledge that unique memory, that minerals can feel emotions of a kind (the spectrum runs from loyalty and benevolence to resentment of bad treatment) and can communicate their knowledge. Stones have no mouths: they can never learn to speak in the exact manner of a human. However, we can learn to hear and listen to them.
Once upon a time, because of great respect for minerals’ magic powers and their formidable powers of memory, as much care, if not more, was taken when gathering (harvesting) stones as it was with botanicals.
Many cultures perceived stones and metals, not as distinct products of Earth for human use, but literally as part of Mother Earth’s body. Stones are often perceived as her bones or teeth. From that perspective, great care must be taken when extracting and using them. Only certain people were authorized to gather stones, using very specific propitiatory ritual. Profound cleansing rituals were undertaken before and after their harvest. Stones were removed with care and respect.