Spellcasting

Z. Budapest wrote The Feminist Book of Light and Shadows in 1975, which later became expanded as The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, Volume I and II, published in 1980 and 1989. These books could be said to form the core of Feminist Dianic belief. Although the spells, rituals and mythology in Z. Budapest's writings call upon many female divinity names, this material also formed one of my early introductions in 1980 to the Goddess Aradia.

Below are some brief quotes related to Aradia and spellcasting.

Introduction to Spellcasting

In our Dianic tradition, Aradia, the daughter of Diana, was sent down to Earth because "there were many poor, and the rich made slaves of all the poor." In those days, as today, the slaves were cruelly treated. In every palace, torture; in every castle, prisoners. Today it is just more sophisticated; the slaves are predominantly women, the places of imprisonment vary from split-level houses to tiger cages.

Aradia came to teach the oppressed how to overthrow the masters. As the only known female avatar (deity in human form), she established her school and taught many the Craft. When she finished and rejoined her mother (dia-holy, ana-mother), she left instructions on how to conjure her for further help. The spells have been passed down from mother to daughter, surviving patriarchy. The Craft is the religion of the oppressed. There is only one rule: "Harm none and do as thou wilt."

The power of the mind is what's really behind the spells' success. The ingredients of the spell represent earth, air, fire, and water, and what we do, in token, is to make the wish a fact before the macrocosm adopts it. It is given birth by you.

General Rules

Correlate your spells with the phases of the moon. On the waxing moon, do positive spells: love, health, money, success. The nine-day spells should land during the full moon, when boons are granted. On the waxing moon, tie that which is loose, dispel evil, return bad vibes. Correlate your spells with the proper planets, if you can. Know the proper name of the Goddess for the different aspects appropriate for the spell. Remember, the Lady Who weaves our lives has a certain pattern for all people to fulfill; if you find that what you want is not to be, don't lose heart, but understand the Goddess has veto power. Bless Her will and search for wisdom...

Old Hungarian Health Spell

When somebody is ill and all the herbal medicines and the doctor's medicine seem to be no help, perform this as a last try.

Lay the ill person naked in a beam of full moonshine. Have one basket filled with 13 fresh eggs and another basket that is empty. Take one egg at a time and rub it on the person's skin slowly, touching all the crevases. When the entire egg surface is used, take the next fresh egg and place the used one in the empty basket. While you do this, say:

By the power of Diana, by the power of Aradia, may all that is ill be absorbed into this egg. By the power of Queen Isis, so mote it be.
When all 13 eggs are used, take a little water, bless it, put salt in it, bless it again, and sprinkle it around the corners of the sick room, saying:
The Goddess blesses her child. All is well now. Fresh new health will glow.
Dispose of the eggs in a living body of water, or bury them. Do not eat the eggs or you will get the illness.

[See also another healing egg spell, Benedicaria Egg Healing Ritual]

Spell to Stop Harassment at Work or School

This spell should be performed during the waning phase of the moon for best results. Prepare your altar with white candles. Use a brown image candle to represent the person who is harassing you. Annoint this candle with Rosa Ava or Bendover oil. Write the person's name on the candle, front and back. On a piece of parchment paper write:

From now on (name) will say nothing but sweet words about me and to me. By the power of Aradia, so mote it be!
Put a drop of honey in the middle of the paper and roll it into a ball. Heat your athalme, make a gash in the candle's mouth and stuff the paper ball into it. Burn High Priestess incense. Let the candle burn a little while every night for an odd number of nights for a maximum of nine nights. Throw the remnants into a living body of water, but save some of the ashes from the incense burner to sprinkle in the path of your oppressor.
--Zsuzsanna Budapest, The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, Complete in One Volume, 1980, 1989, First Wingbow Edition 1989, pp. 23, 44, 27. Special thanks to Z. Budapest for granting her permission to use this material.

Myth's Notes:

Z. Budapest is the author of several excellent books for Wimmin's religion or Feminist Dianic Witchcraft. She founded the Susan B. Anthony Coven No. 1 on the winter solstice of 1971 and has been an important force in Wicca/Wicce since then. The above quotes not only are examples of spells invoking the Goddess Aradia, but likewise illustrate Z's down-to-earth writing style about spellcasting and the modern Craft. Students of the Old Religion and women's spitituality are encouraged to read her work.

Those who wish to contact Z Budapest or learn more about the feminist Dianic tradition, should contact:

Dianic University On-Line, Zsuzsanna Budapest, Founder
www.zbudapest.com/du
The Dianic University On-Line is open for registration, bringing together the diverse souls of women from all over the world, to learn and exchange ideas, and to enhance each other. We can widen the collective female imagination through Goddess and magical studies, connecting peace, ecology, freedom, and personal empowerment with happiness. We begin our journey around the sun and learn Dianic Witchcraft. We will study spells, rituals, and philosophy, traveling together, in destiny groups, learning about the Circle of Rebirth.

These two spells are, in my opinion, perfect examples of Wiccan magic.

Z. Budapest described how the Old Hungarian Health spell was used by Victoria in Hungary on Z's mother, Masika, when she was a very ill little girl.

One by one, Victoria took the [thirteen] eggs from the basket, stroking each one gently and fully over a part of Masika's body [in the moonlight]. She left not one inch untouched. She placed the eggs in the empty basket after she used them. Victoria prayed constantly as she did this, chanting rhymes for power and healing, mixing sweetly the Pagan with the Catholic, according to Universal Imagination. (Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, Complete in One Volume, 1980, 1989, First Wingbo edition 1989, pp. 258-259.)
The original Hungarian chants, which "sweetly" mixed Pagan and Catholic imagery, are lost. However, the core of the spell, lying naked in the moonlight while eggs were used to draw out the illness, has been remembered and "passed down from mother [Masika] to daughter [Zsuzsanna]." (Budapest, p. 23)

Folk magic has been described as "a well worn path." The most interesting of folk magic are those old practices whose symbolism still speaks to the deep mind by drawing on archtypal patterns.

Wiccans often take bits of folk magic and sew them together with what seems to be--at least to the individual Wiccan--appropriate chants and ritual actions. Z substituted a chant invoking Diana and Aradia, two Goddesses who are credited with giving magic to women. The ancient Egyptian Isis, a benificent Goddess of healing and magic, was also invoked. Queen Isis was known as weret hera, meaning "great in magic."

The second spell, Spell to Stop Harassment at Work or School, was a combination of elements of Roman folk magic and modern Wiccan candle magic. The old Roman folk spell involved stuffing the mouth of a dead fish and sewing it closed to cause someone to cease her malicious gossip. Malicious gossip and verbal harassment are old problems.

In this modern Wiccan spell, a candle was "dressed," or annointed, in a common Wiccan fashion. The spell suggested one use an image candle of either a male or female to represent the person verbally harassing the spellcaster. Then, binding words, invoking Aradia, were stuffed into the mouth of the image on the candle. I presume one would have to write the binding words very small in order to be able to insert the paper in the candle's mouth.

Obviously, this Stop Harassment spell was designed to be cast within a Wiccan circle in which the four guardians of the watchtowers had been called and deity invoked. (An example of a solitary Wiccan circle cast for magic in the framework of the Old Religion can be found in the Attract Money Charm.)

Aradia was specifically invoked in this spell as the proper name of the Goddess as a guardian of the oppressed. The ultimate source for this Feminist Dianic Wicce aspect of Aradia would have been Leland's material. Aradia will empower an unjustly harassed individual.

Some modern occultists consider this free adaption of old magic "slipshod and undisciplined." Yet, I disagree. Wicca is a living, breathing religion for living, breathing practitioners. It grows and changes using certain established ritual forms to suit and fulfill the needs of its adherents. Wicca adapts. Wicca evolves. Thus Wicca will move into the 21st century and continue to endure in the hearts and minds of its Witches.


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