Deborah Lipp

Deborah Lipp has been a Witch since 1982 and has been teaching at Starwood and elsewhere since 1987. She is the author of four books: The Elements of Ritual, The Way of Four, The Way of Four Spellbook, and The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book. One of these things is not like the other. She lives near, but not in, New York City, with her son Arthur and various cats.

The Structure of Spellcasting

Both for beginners to magic and to those who wish to fine-tune their craft. What makes a spell work? What impedes its progress? What are the preconditions for a spell to succeed? How do the magician, the target, the goal, and the Gods affect a spell? Magic is an integral part of many of our lives, yet much of the magic we do is left unanalyzed. By looking closely at what does and doesn't work, we can improve our spells. Based on material in my forthcoming (2006) book, The Way of Four Spellbook.

Part One: Magical Power

Covers the nature of magic, sources of power, and raising power. Different power-raising techniques are covered.

Part Two: The Structure of Spellcasting

Covers constructing spells to take advantage of power sources, the basic outline of spells, building spells around an outline, deciding when to do spells and when not to do spells, and disposing of spells. At the end of this class, we’ll assign “homework” to be brought to Part Three.

Part Three: Putting Spells Together

Students to come back to Part Three with their own proposed spells. We'll go over various spells brought by students for discussion and figure out what will work and why, and how to tinker to improve spells. People who haven’t attended earlier classes can attend and observe the process by which a spell is designed.