Over 100,000 copies in print!

Scott Cunningham & David Harrington: Spell Crafts
Creating Magical Objects

Create Homespun Magical Crafts

Take a look at your hands. See them as wondrous vehicles of power. Feel the energy that flows through everything you do. Tap into that Power! Carve a symbol, dip a candle, mix fragrant herbs, sculpt clay, and make your life all that you want it to be. When crafts are used to create objects intended for ritual or to symbolize the divine, the connection between the craftsperson and divinity grows more intense.

This second edition of Spell Crafts, the much-loved and oft-read guide to magical handwork, features new illustrations and a new preface by David Harrington. Learn how to create and use all of the following:

• magical simmering potpourris
• a beaded psychic mandala
• clay pentacles, plaques, and runic dice
• a shaman's arrow
• sand paintings
• corn Mother
• a magical spell broom
• protective hex sign
• Witch bottles
• flower garlands
• spell banners
• magic mirror
• prosperity trivet
• corn dolly*

Scott Cunningham wrote more than thirty books, both fiction and nonfiction, including: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, and Living Wicca. He is the coauthor, with David Harrington, of The Magical Household.*

David Harrington is a folklorist and student of the magical arts. He is the coauthor, with deTraci Regula, of the Scott Cunningham biography,Whispers of the Moon.

"Filled with ancient lore, practical 'how-to' and magic ritual, this book is a must for any magic library." - Pauline & Dan Campanelli, author and illustrator of Ancient Waysand Wheel of the Year*

*Excerpt from the back cover

~From the Preface~
Preface for the second edition of Spell Crafts by David Harrington & Text from the Original Preface of Spell Crafts by Scott Cunningham

During the writing of The Magical Household, Scott Cunningham and I looked at each other one day and realized that while describing the magic of the home for our readers was enjoyable, it would be still more fun to actually help furnish the reader's magical household. I would grow tired of research and put together craft projects for us to do as a break from the research and writing, so The Magical Household was written on tables overflowing with bits of yarn, broom straw, beads, and other items. It seemed like it was the perfect time to start sharing these practical projects with others, and so Spell Crafts was born.

I had always enjoyed crafts, and when I became involved in magic, it seemed natural to incorporate the two together as often as possible. Scott and I were both ardent collectors of magical folk art, often visiting Mexica to buy native corn dollies, Day of the Dead statuary, and other local treasures. One of my favorites remain the Huichol "ojos de dios" or " eyes of God" made of yarn and sticks, which we also incorporated into the "Shaman's Arrow" project. It is simple enough to make, if you know the secret, which we share here.

I still enjoy referring to the "Magic of the Hands" chapter myself. This section was written by Scott and I think it is the most eloquent description he ever did of the process of magical empowerment. As humans, our hands set us apart from any other creature on earth, and anything we make with our hand is empowered with our own natural magic. When a craft is created with magical intent, the result is a beautiful, potent object that is a pleasure to see and to use.

It's marvelous to me that Spell Crafts has found such a large audience over the ten years it has been in print. Scott would be pleased with the enduring success of this project that was such a pleasure to create. I'm very glad to present this new edition and hope it will introduce many more people to the joy of making magic with your own hands. *

~ David Harrington, Chula Vista, California , January 5, 2002.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While David Harrington and I were working on what was to become The Magical Household, we began discussing our next project. Given our interest in handicrafts, we decided that it would be focused on the creation of unusual magical objects - a magical craft book, we'd tell each other.

The Magical Household was published in 1987. We immediately began work on the next project, little realizing the challenges that faced us. Conflicting schedules, my continuous labors on other books, and the unusual nature of this topic kept us from completing it in a timely manner.

We persevered. Though none of the crafts described in this book were new to us, we began using them in a new and different ways. We also had to determine the best method of writing down what are, at times, rather complicated instructions. This necessitated a great deal of practical experimentation.

We wove wheat, dipped candles, sculpted clay, tied god's eyes, mixed herbs, beaded sacred symbols, and fashioned spell brooms. Once we'd perfected these varieties of spell crafts, we began writing. Research provided clues as to the origins of some of these arts and this, too, became part of the book.

Five years later, we've finished Spell Crafts. In a magical sense, the creation of this book was also a form of spell craft. We had a goal: to write this book. We took raw materials (our ideas and experiences) and transformed them into a new form (the book) with our energies and hands. Our visualizations of the completed book have been manifested.

We freely admit that this is an unusual book. It challenges the reader to take part in the entire magical process, from crafting the tools to utilizing them in ritual. It hearkens back to the days when everything was handmade, when stores were few and people had to be self-reliant.

Spell Crafts presents powerful tools of positive self-transformation. None of them, however, can be effective unless they’re actually made and used. Many of us feel the urge to create with magic, we can use that urge to improve the quality of our lives, and that makes the time and energy involved well worthwhile.

Welcome to the true craft of magic. *

~ Scott Cunningham, La Mesa, California, June 24, 1992

There are many types of magical tools. This book doesn't include instructions for the crafting of knives and swords, censers, wands, and other tools of ritual magic. We wish to make that clear right from the beginning.

It is, however, a guide to the creation and use of magical objects of a different nature. It's a book of craft merged with magic; of works of the mind and hand as well as of power. Within its pages lie instructions for creating a wide variety of unusual magical objects for an array of purposes - together with their ritual uses.

Magicians have always known that tools crafted with their own hands are more powerful than those made by others. During the creation process, specific energy can be placed within the object to enhance its effectiveness. This is the essence of spell craft: creating and empowering objects during their construction (or directly afterward) for a specific magical purpose.

Magic is no gerat mystery save to those who have never investigated or practiced it. It's the natural process of moving energy from within ourselves (or within natural objects) to create positive change. In spell craft, some of these changes are physical (clay is chaped; yarn is wrapped; herbs are mixed). Other changes are internal (personal power is directed toward a goal) and external (the magic's goal is manifested in the magician's life).

Spell craft may seem to be a new idea, but it's as old as the day when a human first shaped a natural object to fulfill a spiritual need. The timeless magic that we've presented here still speaks to our kind. It calls to the innate human urge to create. Spell craft nurtures our need to shape natural materials as well as our lives into new and pleasing forms. It also links us with our ancestors, who lived in a far smaller, less complex world of forms and energies.

In taking up these spell crafts today, we can use the teachniques of earlier times to bring order and happiness into our lives.

Spell craft is, therefore, unique,. Still, it's as old as the hills, the stars, and the moon. The rhythms of crafters echo those of the universe and the multitude of cycles that swirl around us.

May all your crafts be magical.*

* Excerpt from the text

David Harrington

David Harrington is a folklorist and student of the magical arts. He is the coauthor, with deTraci Regula, of the Scott Cunningham biography,Whispers of the Moon, the biography of his teacher and friend, Scott Cunningham. He also co-authored Spellcrafts, and The Magical Household and is hard at work on new writing projects. When not writing, David collects tales of ancient folklore and pursues his interests in Mesoamerican archaeology and paranormal phenomena. He lives on the West Coast with his menagerie of rescued animals.

*Excerpt from the publisher

~From the Cover Page~
~Moving In To A Magical Household~
from the cover page

The first things brought into the new house are of magical importance. Several items in particular are thought to bring good luck. Some people bring salt and bread before anything else. With the salt representing wealth and the bread food, the new household should never know hunger or lack of money. Anciently, this was an offering to the Lares-the family household spirits of Roman times.

Following the same idea, a basket overflowing with edible items such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, bread and cheese-should be taken into the house first. To maintain stability in the new household, an item that cannot be blown away by the wind, such as a sturdy chair, should be among the first carried in.

There is one ancient rule that is rarely argued: Never move a broom from one house to another. It will bring your last residence’s bad luck into your new home. (This doesn’t pertain to decorative brooms or those solely for magical use, only those actually used to sweep floors). If, for some reason, you must move an ordinary broom, put it into the new house through an open window, and the ill luck will be deterred.

“There have always been magical households. A house was a shrine to the deity of life itself. Its roof and walls served as a shield from the effects of the elements (both physical and magical) and held in the home’s luck, spirit, or energy, while its door guarded against unwanted intrusions. The hosue sustained life; it was sacred and powerful.: - From The Magical Household

Praise for The Magical HouseHold

“…a delightful compendium of bits and pieces of folklore gleaned from Europe, China, Hawaii, and other parts of the world. All relate to hearth and home…A more complete covering of ‘a magical household’ would be hard to imagine.” – Ray Buckland Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft

“The Magical Household clearly explains how to set up a household altar, the meaning of the hearth fire, and how and why to set up a household for the personal practice of magic…A very fine book.” – Marion Zimmer Bradley The Mists of Avalon

~*~*~*~*~*~*

I’ve added the above excerpt from Magical Household since these 2 books are tied together by idea and authors

~*~*~*~*~*~*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~