Magical Rituals In a Variety of Magical Systems With Rayne Hall

I am thrilled to welcome Rayne Hall to my blog this week for a two part lesson on Magical Rituals. She has has more than twenty books published under several pen names, in several genres. She holds  a degree in publishing management, and a masters in creative writing.

Currently, she lives on the south coast of England where she writes horror and fantasy fiction, as well as puts three decades of editorial experience to the test by publishing themed anthologies. 

Rayne's teaches online classes on a variety of subjects, which include copious feedback and support. Her simple, easy to understand primers on the nuances of magic are a fascinating look at various aspects of the art across a variety of magical systems. Whether you a writer, a reader, or a dabbler you'll find this two part series on Magical Rituals and Power Raising (coming 11/17) fascinating.

All magicians use a ritual for casting spells. Although the details vary, most follow this structure. Everything I write in this article applies to males as well as females, but in this article I'll use 'she' throughout.

1. Preparation

The magician reads the instructions, locks the door, dons her robe, gets her tools ready, assembles the ingredients and so on.

2. Casting the Circle

The magician creates a circle, either physically (e.g. by drawing it with chalk on the ground) or mentally (e.g. by visualising a circle of white light around her). The circle serves to contain the power she raises, and also to protect her from harm. Dangerous spirits may be drawn by magic ritual, and the magician may be vulnerable to attack. The circle keeps her safe.

3. Invocation

The magician calls on assistance from the spirit world. This may be a prayer to her god or goddess with a request that they lend a helping hand, an invitation to ancestral spirits to join her, or a summoning of a demon. In religious magic, this may be a prayer, or a long and complex rite. In other systems, it may be short or even left out. In high magic, the spirits are usually 'summoned';  in Wiccan witchcraft, they are 'invoked' and 'invited'.  Sometimes, this phase also includes an offering to the gods or spirits, for example, a libation of wine or milk poured at the base of a tree, or - in the case of darker magic - a bowl of blood to welcome the demon.

You can deal with the invocation part in just a few words, for example, >After a brief prayer to Hekate, she...< or  >She cast the circle, invoked the spirit of Saint Whatshisname, and...<

4. Altering the State of Consciousness

The magician changes how her brain functions, to make it receptive to magic. Often, this involves going into a trance.  Chanting, dancing or drumming work well for this. Some magicians use deep meditation, others take mind-altering drugs as a short-cut.

5. Raising Power

Magic needs energy, and the magician taps into an energy source or creates energy.  This is an important phase of the ritual; without it, magic will not work.  More about this in the next blog post this Thursday, November 17. 

6. Speaking the Spell

The magician speaks or chants the words of the spell. In some magic systems (such as ancient Egyptian magic), it's essential to get the words, pronunciations and intonations exactly right. In others (such as Wiccan witchcraft) the words are merely a vehicle by which the spell travels, and what matters is the intent, i.e. the magician needs to concentrate fully on the purpose of the spell.

The spells are usually short and rhythmical, repeating important words. Readers love it if you include a line or two from the spell. Just resist the  temptation to insert a three-hundred-line poem.

In Shamanism, this is the stage during which the shaman travels to the spirit world, and in Necromancy, this is when the necromancer asks questions of the deceased person.

7. Dismissing the Spirits

Once the spell is cast, the magician thanks the spirits for their assistance (if she invited them) or dismisses them (if she summoned them), or says another prayer to her goddess or god.

8. Closing the circle

The magician dismantles the physical circle or visualises the imaginary circle as fading.

9. Grounding

The magician needs to come back to reality, especially if the ritual involved journeying to the spirit world. The quickest and easiest is to drink some water and eat a little bread.

10. Keeping Records

Like a scientist conducting experiments, the magician records what exactly she did during the ritual, with which ingredients, what the purpose was, how it felt, and so on. This allows her to keep track of the efficacy of the magic, and learn for future rituals. An alchemist's record-keeping is probably factual and analytical, while a Wiccan witch's entry into her 'Book of Shadows' is more about emotions and perceptions.

11.  Resting

Magic is mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting.  After working major magic, your character needs a rest. If the plot permits, allow her a nap.  If you're a devious writer, you can make things difficult for her, and let her worst enemy attack just at this moment when she's weak and vulnerable.

DIFFERENCES

The details of the ritual vary, depending on the system of magic, the magician's skill level, on her personal preference, and on how much time she has available. You need not follow this model exactly, but can tweak it so it suits your novel's plot.

Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5 are sometimes carried out in a different order or combined. For example, by drumming and dancing, the shaman can change her consciousness and raise power at the same time.

The ritual can take as little as two seconds or as long as a two days. A public ritual is likely to take longer than a private one, because the magician wants to please the audience.

An experienced magician may use a shorter ritual than an inexperienced one. Ritual helps the magic, and a novice needs all the help she can get. An inexperienced magician gets best results if she adheres to the ritual precisely and takes a lot of time. A veteran mage can do something in minutes or seconds because she has the experience. That's as with other things: knitting your first pair of socks is going to take a long time, but by the time you've completed your hundredth pair, you can produce them really fast.

PLOT IDEAS

* What if  a magician  normally uses an elaborate ritual, but an emergency happens and she does not have enough time?

* What if a  magician needs certain ingredients to cast her spell, but she can't obtain them?

* What if a magician goes into trance for a magic ritual, and something terrible happens which would recquire her full alert consciousness?

* What if a magician desperately needs to work magic, but she can't concentrate enough to make it work because of scary distractions?

* What if the magician is physically and mentally exhausted after a ritual, and the evil enemy chooses this time to attack her?

In 'Storm Dancer', the magician Merida is a stickler for correct procedure. She doesn't believe it's possible to work magic in any other way. But then she has to do just that - in increasingly difficult circumstances. I've had fun making things difficult for her. 

Several times in the story, she exhausts herself working magic - and the villain takes advantage of her weak state when she cannot defend herself.

For Discussion

Have you read any works of fiction which showed some or all of the ritual?

Are you currently working on a story about magic? Will you include a magic ritual?  What is your magician aiming to achieve with the spell?

If you have questions about magic rituals, or about any aspect of writing about magic, ask. I will be around for a week, and enjoy answering questions. 

On Thursday, we'll move on to to how a magician raises power to fuel a magical spell.

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Rayne's recent release, Storm Dancer, features Merida, a magician who dances for rain in the parched desert world in which she finds herself imprisoned. The novel is epic in scope and explores the concept of a djinn that possesses Dahoud,  a former warrior, compelling him to commit terrible crimes against women. 


He and Merida find themselves thrown together by circumstances beyond their control. Will he  able to defeat his djinn, and will she be able to forgive his transgressions to accomplish the impossible and save the town entrusted to their care? 


Mysterious, dark, full of political intrigue and meticulously researched, Rayne brings this Bronze Age world to life right before the reader's eyes with unique, fascinating characters, vivid detail, and a complex, compelling plot. She puts her expertise on writing fantasy, magical systems, and fight scenes to the test, leaving readers unable to resist turning the page.


If you'd like a chance to win a free electronic copy of Storm Dancer, ask a question, make a comment, or simply ask to be entered in the random drawing, and give Rayne a way to contact you.

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Rayne Hall teaches an online workshop 'Writing about Magic and Magicians'. Create believable magicians (good and evil), fictional spells which work, and plot complications when the magic goes wrong. Learn about high and low magic, witches and wizards, circle-casting and power-raising, initiation and training, tools and costumes, conflicts and secrecy, love spells and sex magic, and apply them to your novel. This is a 4-week class with 12 lessons and practical assignments. If you wish, you may submit a scene for critique at the end of the workshop.

The next dates for this workshop:

March 12, 2012: Low Country Chapter of RWA

April 2013: Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter of RWA

Rayne's other workshops include 'Writing Fight Scenes', 'Writing Scary Scenes' and 'The Low Word Diet'. Click here for an updated listed of upcoming workshops.