Beg, borrow, steal, or create your own?
Any way you look at it, it’s a tough decision if your use magic in your writing. As writers, we do our research searching for that perfect incantation, spell or ritual to use in our story, but one size does not fit all. With that we need to think which is the best kind of magic for our characters, and is this a good fit?
Magic is unique to the creator and usually is specifically designed to work for that person with which their intention has been set for such purpose. So why not make it unique to your character?Now grant you, ancient spells have been published, along with numerous books on spells from healing simple ailments to love spells. Many of these are hundreds of years old and still being used by many. New spell books have emerged with the ever-growing Wiccan popularity.
As writers, we are indeed creators of our own fictional world and so many are opting to use a hybrid form of traditional magic or create their own. You hold the power, so why not come up with your own form?
I have a few friends who are Wiccan and traditional Witches and have been told to be careful when altering or borrowing a spell for a story. The best practices are to write it in the fictional sense— or if you do borrow a real spell, change the wording so that you are not intentionally practicing real magic if you have not had a background in this area.
Let’s face it—magic is magic and can be unpredictable. I can tell you that I learned this the hard way—I will save that for another post. (You’ve been warned).
As for my writing, I have incorporated goddess magic, high Egyptian and Greek priestess magic, Italian Strega magic and a bit of old witchcraft.
I have borrowed from old texts, various forms of research and modified old ones. I’ve found that the best forms of magic and spells are the ones I create. I thought it would be difficult at first, but it actually has turned out to be fun! Just imagine the possibilities!
So get that pen or athame ready and have fun with it, but make sure to practice safe magic.
Here is a link to 8 rules for safe spell casting~
Check out Lorraine's magical stories on AMAZON
Book 1 & 2 are available and book 3 of the trilogy is coming soon
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