The Magic of Winter

Although witches often refer to the period between Samhain and Beltane as the dark half of the year it would be wrong to assume that there isn’t still a fair bit of magic going on while the earth is asleep. The dark and cold Winter months provide many unique opportunities for using the transformation of nature in casting and spell work.

Winter brings about many changes in the weather which in turn provide their own unique function in magic. Nothing says Winter more than a sprinkling of snow over the Earth and nothing says magic to the witch in Winter more than a drift of snow. Frosted crystalline Winter has a magic all of its own, a magic that lends its sparkle to those wishing to practise their craft in these cold months.

Snow is the weather we associate most with the Winter and snow can be a powerful ingredient in magic at this time of year. A forward thinking witch however will not limit her use of this ingredient to the cold months. Snow can be bottled and stored until the warmer weather – it can even be kept frozen in the household freezer for use later in the year. The use of snow in Summer can be very effective in cooling spells and workings to influence the ambient temperature of the immediate environment.

Snow can be used to many different effects in magic. It is often used to invoke the cold and traditionally the cold can be used in workings that involve slowing down or reducing the impact of something. An old watch placed in a pot of snow for example can be utilised in time magic to slow down the perception of time. In a similar respect snow can be used to slow down the effects of time - in much the same way as the house fridge and freezer are used as preservation aids. I know of several witches who wash their face directly in the snow in the sincere belief that it will hold back the years.
 
The beauty of snow doesn’t lessen its ability to be used in more aggressive magics. Snow can be piled up around the poppet of a competitor (a work rival perhaps) to slow down their performance and make the going harder for them. It can be used to kill affection – to freeze the heart – particularly useful for a witch who wants
to dissuade a hopeful suitor or to force a contender for the object of her own desire to lose interest.

The common phrase “to put something on ice” has a literal meaning in witchcraft. The freezing process 
is a powerful tool in protection spells - this can be either defensive or aggressive - you can freeze the essence of yourself to create an ice shield around it for protection or you can place a taglock or an image of the aggressor inside a block of ice to create a shield around them blocking their negative inclinations from escaping. Ice shards make useful weapons for piercing a wax poppet to cause targeted damage.
Freezing the saliva of another person and then smashing the ice cube will reduce the influence they have over you.  Ice blocks can be formed and then carved with runes/spell wording and then left to melt into the earth to activate the intention inherent in the spell. A variation on this is to carve the name of somebody you wish to assume power over into the ice and then hold it, allowing the ice to melt between your hands and visualising the individual yielding to your will.

Snow and Ice are not the only useful elements of Winter weather. For those lucky enough to get a shower of hail stones I would strongly suggest bottling a few.They may lose the structure of the initial shape but the power and force will remain bottled and can be a powerful addition to spell work to give it an extra oomph.
All in all, a good time of year to get working that magic!

Image http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1437812

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