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Magic On The High Seas

Magic On The High Seas

Last updated on: May 14, 2025 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

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Magic On The High Seas 2025-05-13T17:50:30-06:00 John Beckett

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Regular blog readers know that for the past several years I’ve encouraged everyone to work magic at every full moon. And by everyone I mainly mean me. I found that when I waited until I had a situation that really needed magic, my skills were rusty and my results weren’t as strong as they could have been… or as strong as I needed them to be.

The cycles of magic wax and wane with the moon, making the full moon an auspicious time to work magic no matter what your target. More importantly, we get a full moon every 29.5 days, so I never go more than a month without working any magic.

[Interestingly, Morgan Daimler came across a meme claiming that “the full moon is for releasing and letting things go.” Morgan doesn’t know where that came from and neither do I. My best guess is a social media influencer who doesn’t know as much as they claim to know.]

The challenge with doing anything on a fixed schedule in our busy world that makes constant demands on our time is that sooner or later you’re going to have a conflict. Now, I hold to the tradition that the moon is full for three nights, so you’ve got some flexibility. But at the April full moon I was on vacation, 6000 miles from home.

A full moon on the ocean

Finding the time was just a matter of carving out a half hour or so between moonrise and bedtime (the full moon is full even in the daytime when you can’t see it, but it’s so much better when you can). The first question was “what kind of magic am I going to work?” And then “am I going to have what I need to work it?”

Of course you can bring some things with you… though I don’t recommend trying to bring herbs or an athame through airport security and international customs. Hotels and ships don’t allow candles – for good reason. Plus, when I packed for the trip I really didn’t know what my magical target for the month would be.

The tools for sigil magic – my most frequently used magical technique – are almost always available. All you need is pen and paper… though I prefer to draw my final sigils on cardstock with a wide sharpie.

But as the full moon drew near, two things became obvious. First, my biggest need was not to manifest some specific tangible thing. Rather, I needed to add some magical “juice” to the current stage of a long-term plan I’ve been working on for some time.

[When that plan is complete in a couple years I’ll be writing about it extensively, but until then there’s only so much I can say without breaking “keep silence” and weakening the magic.]

And second, being under the full moon on the open sea is beautiful and powerful, and something I’ve only experienced a few times in my life. While sigils could be useful in this situation, it seemed wasteful to stay inside for this.

Recharging a hypersigil

And so after the moon was up, I went outside and found a quiet place on the ship, at the rail that goes around the open deck. I did a brief grounding and centering mediation (yes, grounding is different in the middle of the ocean, but not all that different – you can do it in an airplane too) and then turned my focus to the moon.

There’s always something magical about looking up at the full moon, bathing in its brilliant light.

I started by going through a series of affirmations I wrote late last year. I see some “influencers” who overuse affirmations and do little else, but when combined with other magic and especially with tangible action, they can be very helpful. I’ve used these affirmations before and they’ve always been effective.

After the affirmations I went through a series of visualizations, seeing myself in the places and situations I want to be in, doing the things I want to do. I normally do visualizations with my eyes closed (except when I do them as part of walking meditation) but I did these while watching the moonlight on the water.

All this helped recharge a hypersigil I’ve been working on for several years. It’s not complete, but I’ve made significant progress toward my desired state (including a significant step up this year) and I have every reason to expect it will reach a satisfactory conclusion in a couple more years.

I ended the session with an unscripted prayer to Cernunnos, the Morrigan, and the other deities I work for and with on a regular basis, thanking them for good travels, for progress toward these goals, and for their presence and blessings in my life.

Do it again at home… this time, anyway

This went so well I repeated the process at the May full moon. This time I was home, in my back yard. The horizon was blocked by houses and trees. The moon was partially obscured by clouds. It was a setting I’ve experienced hundreds of times in my life, not just a handful. And it was still a powerful addition to my long-term magical working.

As good and helpful as this was, I don’t want to repeat it every month. For one thing, the hypersigil needs to be recharged at more than just full moons. More importantly, I don’t want my full moon magic to rely on only one technique. Yes, I want to stay in practice with visualization and affirmation. I want to stay in practice with sigil magic, which I use frequently. But I also want to stay in practice with Tarot magic, candle magic, Earth magic, and the kind of ritual magic that’s a ton of work to develop, obtain materials, rehearse, and then perform.

As much as I agree with the phrase “the only tool a witch needs is their body” I always cringe a bit when I hear it. Yes, it’s literally true. You don’t have to have a bunch of tools and materials to work magic. All you need is your finger. All you need is your mind. One of the advantages of magic is that it’s always available, no matter your situation.

On the other hand, it seems like every time I hear that phrase it’s coming from someone who also says “magic is all about intention” and “magic isn’t something you do, it’s something you are.”

No.

Practice makes perfect (or at least, closer to perfect)

Magic is a craft. Witchcraft (a subset of magic) is a craft. It’s something you do. It’s something you practice. Magic is part of our heritage as humans (we’re all born with the capability to do magic) but as with any craft, the more you practice – the more you practice effectively – the better you get.

And also as with any craft, it’s important to choose the right tool for the job. As the old saying goes “if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.”

There are “problems” (situations, goals, targets, etc.) that are best addressed with visualization. Others are best addressed with sigils. If you need to do a binding spell, you’re going to need physical materials: something to represent your target and something to bind it with. Mirror spells can be done with visualization, but sometimes they’re best done with actual mirrors.

And some spells require a really big hammer.

If you’re going to practice magic, it’s best if you practice a variety of techniques. That way you don’t reach for a hammer when the problem requires a screwdriver… or a chainsaw.

And when circumstances present you with a situation that’s beautiful and powerful, you’ll be ready to make good use of it, even without any tools or materials.

the Eight of Pentacles from the Robin Wood Tarot, with some tools

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