Deborah Lipp

Deborah Lipp was initiated into a traditional Gardnerian coven of Witches in 1981, became a High Priestess in 1986, and has been teaching Wicca and running Pagan circles ever since. She's been published in many Pagan publications, including The Llewellyn Magical Almanac, Pangaia, Green Egg, and The Druid's Progress, as well as Mothering Magazine. Look for her essay in 2005's Llewellyn's Witches' Calendar. She has been at Starwood for over twenty years now. As an active "out of the closet" member of the Pagan community, Deborah has appeared in various media discussing Wicca, most notably on the A&E documentary "Ancient Mysteries: Witchcraft in America". She has also appeared on MSNBC, in The New York Times, and in many smaller TV and print sources. 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 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.