The Magic of Hands

Hands were the first magical tools. Long before the earliest spell books were written, humans saw their hands as tools of power. With them they changed their world, and change is the essence of magic.

In the earliest days of our species, hands were used to gather and to prepare food, to create shelter, for making simple garments, and to fashion tools of wood, bone, stone, and shell. Hands clasped together during the beginnings of life, assisted during birth, struck against flesh in combat, and laid the deceased to rest. Finally, humans discovered they could use their hands to create fire. These quite real changes were probably viewed as the products of what we would term magic, for many of them were the sole province of humans.

Hands had other uses as well. Though some now speculate that early humans first communicated by telepathy, it seems possible that hand signals were also used. Apart from their value in everyday life (warning of danger, giving directions during hunts, passing on rudimentary knowledge), the language of gestures probably evolved specific signs reserved for religious and magical purposes. Certain shapes created with the fingers may have promoted union with spirit. Some were most probably magical in nature.

Thousands of years later, someof these early forms of communication were specifically associated with religion. Some of these ritual gestures have been preserved and are still used in religions found throughout the world.

The miraculous changes that could be created with hands drove humans to regard them as one of the most spiritual parts of the body. In the first great civilizations (Sumer, Egypt, Greece, and Rome), hands enjoyed both a secular and a sacred aura of power, and played important roles in religion.

Sumerian images of worshippers were often carved with their hands held upward in supplication or clasped in humility. Wall paintings in Egyptian tombs depict deities holding ankhs--symbols of life--in their hands. In reliefs of Ra (an Egyptian sun deity), the rays stemming from the solar orb terminate in small hands.

Pagan deities from around the world are often depicted holding or clutching symbols of their powers (which are dispensed through their hands). Some Hindu deities are equipped with multiple arms and hands to symbolize the many powers and influences that these deities possess.

As systems of magic evolved, hands became increasingly important: specific figures were drawn or traced, the hands were placed in certain postures, and ritual tools were carried and moved. Though many inner processes were at work during magical rituals, hands were viewed as the channels through which magical energy was released.

Even today, hands haven't lost their power. "Laying on of hands" is a popular form of healing, in which the hands are used to transport energy into the sick. The age-old art of palmistry hasn't died out. Gestures of love (holding hands) and hate (in the United States, the upraised middle finger) still evoke powerful emotions.

To symbolize the depth of our sincerity while swearing oaths, we raise a hand. Clasping hands upon meeting a friend is a social ritual in the West today, and is a survivor of the ancient ritual demonstration of exhibiting weapon-free hands (and thus, of friendly intentions).

We still wear betrothal, healing, and luck rings on our fingers, perhaps with the unconscious hope that placing such special objects on our fingers will strengthen their effectiveness. Some of us shake hands with famous persons, hoping that "luck" will rub off. Business transactions are often sealed with a ritual handshake. Semisecret groups continue to utilize ritual handclaspings as a means of recognition, and, throughout the world, most of us earn our living by using our hands.

Religious use of hands is also with us. Catholics trace the sign of the cross on their bodies during prayer, priests and ministers often lift a hand during prayer and supplication (as religious persons have been doing since ancient Sumer), and Asians clap before images of their deities during religious ritual.

The wide range of unusual rituals and customs that we still perform with our hands hints at the magical potential contained within them. Our hands are far more than utilitarian objects: our palms and fingers are potent magical tools. Even several millennia of cultural and technological progress hasn't been able to fully exorcise this knowledge. Knowingly or unknowingly, we still affirm that hands are magical objects.

Magicians (those conversant with natural but little understood transformative techniques) know that the human body produces energy that can be used in magic. The hands are seen as conduits through which this energy is sent from the body during magical rites.

And so, hands are truly magical tools. With their help we can change our lives. Any creative act performed with the hands (writing a letter, weaving a rug, building a house, or knitting a sweater) can be an act of magic, if it's done with the proper intent.

So, what, exactly, is magic? Magic is the movement of natural (yet subtle) energies to create positive change. It's an ancient art, rich with centuries of history and practice. It isn't supernatural, evil, or dangerous.

Many have found magic to be a technique that allows them to gain control over their lives; to transform them into happier, more positive experiences.

Spell craft is a special category of magic. It consists of the magical creation of, and ritual use of, magical objects. When we make such objects, we're performing acts of magic, for we're causing transformations (the raw materials and energies within them) with our hands.

Magic can be a purely mental process, using no tools other than a trained mind. More often, though, it involves the use of specific objects as focal points for concentration, such as candles, brooms, and herbs. These objects are usually handled in ritual ways while energy from within the body is sent into or through them.

All hand-made objects contain a bit of energy. The process that creates these objects is more than a simple repetition of techniques. During the creation process the craftsperson, through concentration and the physical activity involved, moves energy from within the body, through the hands, and into the material being worked. This is what sets it apart from other objects, and what readies it for use in magic.

Excerpt from~ "Spell Crafts", by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington, pgs. 3-7. © 1993 Llewellyn Publications.

The True Meaning of Craft

The word "craft" has today acquired a mundane definition. A craft is a manual art, usually indulged in for enjoyment (and, occassionally, for monetary reward). Some crafts are also seen as arts; thus, they can be viewed as mediums of personal expression. The Industrial Revolution which negated the need for many handmade articles, also revolutionized our attitudes toward crafts.

Crafts have largely become pastimes, often associated with the very young, the elderly, or with emotionally and intellectually challenged persons (the popular concept of therapy as "basket-weaving" is an excellent example of the latter).

Craft was once seen in its proper perspective, however. Indigenous creatures throughout the world have always claimed that crafts were of divine revelation, not human invention. Pottery, beading, painting, agriculture, medicine, spinning, weaving, knotting, brewing, carving--these were techniques that had been created by the goddesses and gods, the spirits, the divine ones.

All crafts were intimately linked with spirituality. A woman who carefully shaped a water jar from clay she'd gathered from a river bank was performing a spiritual practice, and was fully aware of this fact.

When crafts were used to create objects intended for ritual, or that symbolized the divine, the connection between the craftsperson and divinity grew more intense: the revealed techniques would be used to exalt their revealers.

Since all crafts were sacred, the craftspersons practicing them weren't simply transforming objects. Working the craft was a rite of spiritual connection between the worker and the deity. Thus, craft was never simply a pastime: it was a rite of power and honro; a religious ritual.

Craftspersons may have also been aware of the dual nature of craft. Outwardly, the craftsperson transformed raw materials into new forms and structures. Inwardly, the material also transformed the craftsperson. Thus, each craft was also a spiritually evolving process that created both physical and nonphysical change.

In the earliest times of our species, religion and magic were identical. Little distinction could be made between praying to the sun as it rose and carrying an etched stone as protection against the warriors from the neighboring village. Both actions were connected with nonphysical, abstract aspects of human life, both were little understood, and both were of vital importance to their practitioners.

Many examples of what seem to be magical and/or religious pieces have been discovered in prehistoric European grave sites. The fact that such objects were made, rather than found, probably lent them additional power and effectiveness, for the techniques used to create them were divinely revealed. This linked them with the unfathomable powers of the sky, sun, wind, lightning, and the earth itself.

Nearer historical times, magical objects were made of every available material (wood, shell, stone, clay, bone, feathers, skin, fur, flowers, seeds). Most of these seem to have been created for protective purposes. At times, the material itself wasn't important. Of greater significance was the fact that the craftsperson had molded and shaped it to suit her or his needs. This object, once made and properly used, assisted the person in molding and shaping her or his life as well.

Before the invention of the assembly line; before Christian dominance in the western world, craft was a spiritual/magical art, a practice of power, of inward and outward control. We retain just a hint of this original meaning in the word "Witchcraft", which refers to the "craft" of the "Witch". Only Witches and magicians managed to retain the magical knowledge of craft. The craft of the Witch consisted of many things, including magic, herbal medicine, the use of psychic awareness, midwifery, counseling, and weather prediction, as well as the creation of magical physical objects.

Many early Witches, when asked, made charms, mixed medicinal brews, and fashioned protective amulets for those that came to them for help. The traditional Witch was intimately familiar with the energies inherent in craft itself.

Though the spiritual/magical nature of crafts was largely forgotten, the crafts themselves were kept alive. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance did much to funnel crafts into purely Christian channels. Certain crafts (including masonry, carpentry, and lapidary) were related to the glorification of "God"; other, homelier crafts lost all spiritual significance and became mere occupations.

The word "Witch" soon instilled fear, not necessarily of the Witches themselves, but of the power of a religion that viciously used this term to eliminate its enemies. The craft of the Witch soon inspired dread. Crafts in any way linked with magic could prompt arrests, trials, and executions. Witches and their crafts drew back into the shadows, taking with them the few remaining vestiges of the true meaning of craft.

The nature of craft was slowly changing. Craft lost much of its spiritual meaning (except within the church's definition) and the old art of crafting charms and amulets were either altered to quasi-Christian forms or were altogether forgotten. Craft became a mundane pursuit whose practitioners thought no further than producing the goods in question (many of which were, admittedly, things of beauty). Magical objects were only created in private and used in complete secrecy. Our understanding of craft had changed.

If we're to truly use craft as a tool of magic, we must become aware of its larger purpose. Craft consists of more than the mere slapping together of clay or the dipping of candles. Craft is a transformative process that we can use to change both ourselves and our lives.

Each aspect of every craft is in itself an act of magic. From gathering the materials to empowering and utilizing the finished project, each step is a vital part of the craft's magic.

Craft, then, is more than a manual art. It's a connection with ourselves; a valuable tool that we can use to alter our lives. The art of craft is one that can be mastered by anyone with a willingness to learn and a deep desire for self-transformation. This can be achieved only with a clear understanding of the true meaning of craft.

Excerpt from~ "Spell Crafts", by Scott Cunningham and David Harrington, pgs. 9-12. © 1993 Llewellyn Publications


 

Backgrounds and images are Courtesy of The Witches Tea House