Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One: The Deity Dilemma
Chapter Two: Everything is Energy
Chapter Three: Growing and Harvesting Energy
Chapter Four: Casting Spells
Chapter Five: Creating and recording your own spells
Chapter Six: You atheist witch, you!
 Godless Magick
A brief guide on atheistic witchcraft

By Anna Mist

Introduction
Can you be a witch if you don’t believe in deities? The uninformed
may tell you that you can’t be, and you may find yourself at odds with
many so-called “witches” out there. After all, many modern pagan paths are
heavily focused on the belief in deities, whether done with worship or
respect. Even other atheists may tell you that the notion of atheistic
witchcraft is nonsense. Nevertheless, the belief and worship of gods is an
outdated practice in a modern world of advanced scientific knowledge—
even though magick still surrounds us every day.

***

The definition of atheism is a fairly simple one, yet so many people fail
to understand it. It is merely the absence of belief in deities. It is not a
religion. It is not a rigid belief system. It’s simply a descriptive term for
those of us who live without gods or masters. It’s true that there are radical
atheists, and there are also soft atheists who lean more toward agnosticism.
There are atheists who believe in ghosts, and atheists who don’t. There are
atheists who believe in karma, and there are atheists who don’t.
Furthermore, there are atheists who practice witchcraft—and atheists who
don’t. As stated before, atheism isn’t a system of beliefs, so no two atheists
think 100% alike . This is a fact that escapes many theists—who have it in
their heads that atheists think the same, believe the same and follow a set of
dogmatic ideals.
Perhaps the misconceptions about atheism can be blamed on the
mainstream media’s portrayal of nonbelievers, and the constant spotlight
shone on figures like Richard Dawkins and James Randi. The most radical
of any group or culture of people will always attract the most attention,
which has been illustrated by attention given to those who paint the most
rigid portrait of atheism, and atheists, in general. So it’s understandable that
numerous people believe that atheists can’t be religious, can’t be spiritual,
and can’t practice witchcraft. These people are in error, but it’s easy to see
why they hold onto their false preconceptions.

***

Witchcraft is a self-explanatory word. It is the craft of the witch.

Nothing about the word itself says a thing about religion or deity worship.
It’s nothing more than the practice of magick. It’s literally a craft like any
other, and while some people attribute gods and goddesses to the effectivity
of their craft, some of us differ. Merriam-Websterdefines witchcraft as the
use of sorcery or magic. Wikipedia broadly defines witchcraft, declaring
that the term is “difficult to define with precision,” due to the cultural
variances of the term. Just like with atheists, no two practitioners of
witchcraft are going to think—or practice—the same way. With all the
numerous paths and solitary ideologies, witchcraft can be practiced in a
seemingly endless variety of fashions. People who practice witchcraft are
making use of the energies that surround them to manipulate their
environments—and there’s no single way to do that.
The word witch has had a multitude of definitions—many of which
have meant negative things, and mostly directed toward women. Witches
have been defined as ugly, unpleasant, evil, dishonest and any other
combination of snide adjectives you can imagine. Contemporary and
modern pagan movements can be thanked for removing some of the stigma
associated with witchcraft, but much of it still remains. Regardless of the
popular definitions of the word at any given time in our society, I am going
to define it as follows:
 Witch:A person (man or woman) who practices witchcraft
It’s really that simple. It doesn’t matter what other bells and whistles
you attach to your form of magick. If you practice witchcraft, you’re a
witch. If you’re a witch, you practice witchcraft. You are not evil (unless
you choose to be). You are not dishonest (unless you choose to be). Any
personal qualities or flaws you possess aren’t yours merely because you’re a
witch. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Wiccan, who only practices so-called
“white magick,” or if you’re a Brujah who practices old fashioned conjure
magick. Furthermore, it doesn’t matter if you don’t call on any gods or
goddesses while practicing your magickal craft. Witchery is witchery, and
nobody should convince you of otherwise.
I’m not going to promise that you’ll be a powerful witch by the time
you finish this book, but I do hope that you end up more informed, and
confident with yourself upon reading the last page. Atheistic witchcraft may
seem like an entirely new and confusing world to you, or you may already
feel completely at ease with the concept. Regardless of your level of
comfort with this topic, I hope that the following chapters successfully
assist you on your path to enlightenment and freedom from the bondage of
man-made gods. I also want to end this introduction with a disclaimer that
should probably go without saying: The points-of-view expressed in this
book are all my own, unless otherwise specified. I cannot speak for every
atheist witch on the planet, but hopefully my own wisdom, experience and
point-of-view can illustrate this topic to you, the reader.

Chapter One: The Deity Dilemma

Even in 2018, most people believe in some kind of higher power—
whether that higher power be a single creator deity, or a series of gods,
goddesses or other entities. Meanwhile, atheism does appear to be on the
rise. In 2016, the Pew Research Center reported that the number of
Americans identifying as atheists had grown by more than one percent from
2007. This modest percentage continues to grow with every year that
passes. Nonetheless, atheists are still a minority.
Theists, in general, don’t trust atheists—and Christians aren’t the only
ones. When it comes to being a witch, social circles are incredibly limited
when you don’t believe in any deities at all. Atheist witches are faced with a
variety of questions, and we get grilled from all directions. Some fellow
atheists mock spiritual non-believers. Meanwhile, religious Wiccans and
other devout pagans of similar paths tend to show confusion when
discussing the topic of atheistic witchcraft. Some theists, regardless of the
religion or path, tend to react to atheists as if the lack of belief has somehow
caused them—the theists—actual harm. In other words: If you thought
being an “out” atheist was lonely, try being an atheist who practices
witchcraft.
For many people, it’s impossible to entertain the existence of gods. I’m
one of those people. I see no logic in the existence of a creator deity, and I
see even less logic in the existence of more than one . I do not believe that
invisible beings exist to do my magickal bidding, nor do I believe any gods
or goddesses have ever existed to punish me for my wrongdoings in life. I
view gods as figments of the human imagination—created from our egos
for a multitude of self-serving reasons. I stopped believing in the idea of a
“God” around the same time I found out that there was no man flying
around on a sleigh on Christmas eve, delivering toys to every single “good”
child on the planet.
Just because I stopped believing in “God” at a young age, doesn’t mean
I didn’t struggle with my spiritual identity. I explored other religions outside
of the norm of Christianity. I had philosophical conversations with myself
about the idea of “God,” and whether or not he was a metaphor, trying to
find a way to reason with the worship of a deity that I simply did not
believe in. Discovering Wicca when I was around eleven-years-old didn’t
do anything to push me in the direction of god worship, either. I first
learned about Wicca from an advertisement in the back of a magazine. The
ad was for a Wiccan “school” of sorts, which was taught by Gavin and
Yvonne Frost. As hard of a time I was having believing in the Abrahamic
“God” of The Bible, I had an even harder time believing that there was such
a thing as “The Goddess.” Nonetheless, I do have to acknowledge that
Wicca was my gateway to the world of witchcraft and spirituality. I felt
magnetically drawn to that magazine advertisement. I sent Gavin and
Yvonne Frost a letter, and received a wealth of information back in the mail
several weeks later—thus beginning my journey into the world of witchery.
Of course—many, many years later—I learned that my grandmother was an
atheist, and my mother is a Wiccan. So perhaps my curiosity about the
occult was there for a reason.
I never personally signed up for the Frost’s school of Wicca. I wasn’t
interested, even then, in congregating with anybody. I was also very young,
not even a teenager yet. I also lived in the Bible Belt, did not have access to
the internet (as it was still young, and nothing like it is today), and
definitely had very little ability to learn more about the craft. I kept my
interest in Wicca to myself, but was fortunate to stumble upon various
books on the occult while out thrift-shopping with my grandmother. I
picked up books on astrology, on tarot and palm reading. I learned what
little bits I could from outdated books written in the 60s and 70s. It wasn’t
until I was around thirteen or fourteen-years-old that I was able to use the
internet to my witchy advantage. Back then, a website called AvatarSearch
was incredibly popular for occult-related research. I printed out countless
pages on Wicca, demonology, Asatru and an assortment of other belief
systems. I loved reading about so-called glamour spells, domination spells
and different ways that witches throughout history (according to Wiccan
writers, of course) used their magickal prowess.
Still, I did not believe in deities. I believed—and still do—in magick. I
believed—and still do—in the powers of the human mind, and the
capabilities of our own personal energies. I just couldn’t ever bring myself
to believe in gods and goddesses. It didn’t matter which system of deities I
learned about, I just couldn’t make myself believe in their existences. I
couldn’t make myself stop eye-rolling at the very books from which I
learned. Every mention of “calling on the power” of xyz deity, brought me
further and further away from any of the popular magickal belief systems. It
wasn’t until I was in my late teens that I concluded that I was simply an
atheist, and even though I loved tarot cards and I loved spells and
witchcraft, I removed myself entirely from the culture of new age witches
who worshipped goddesses and believed in mythical creatures.
As of now, I’m a staunch and unapologetic atheist. I not only lack belief
in deities, but I reject their existences. I also feel that the belief in gods is
hindering the advancement of the human race. God worship—with religion
—takes away accountability, and it inspires lack of personal action. During
times of disaster, it’s far easier to offer “thoughts and prayers,” than it is to
get out and do something productive to lend a helping hand. It’s easier to
light a candle and burn some sage, than it is to confront situations that make
us uncomfortable. Deity worship makes people lazy. It separates people
from reality, and in some cases it stifles their magickal selves. How limiting
it is to believe that you can only get magickal power from a god. How
limiting it is to believe you can only seek answers to your problems through
a deity that can’t even bother to reveal itself. So many religions and
spiritual paths have the masses convinced that they aren’t personally
powerful.
But in reality, we’re all incredibly powerful, and we are all certainly capable
of casting effective spells without the crutch of deity worship.

Chapter Two: Everything is Energy

When I say that we’re magickal beings, I mean it. When you reach out
and touch a physical object, you can feel its texture, its temperature and any
other things with your sense of touch. However, even the items you touch in
the physical world aren’t exactly solid material. The world of quantum
physics is a confusing section of science for numerous people, but to break
it down easily, think of it like this: Every single item in existence is made
up of atoms of energy, which vibrate at different frequencies. That means
that even a hardwood table is nothing more than tightly grouped atoms. You
are also made up of atoms. Everything is.
As a being constructed of atoms, you have your very own energy
signature—and no two person’s energy signatures are the same. All parts of
an atom are moving and functional, and all vibrate at their own frequencies.
Electrons, Protons and Neutrons all work together to literally shape reality
as we know it. These are the building blocks of the universe and all life.
Carl Sagan once said “We’re made of star stuff,” meaning that we’re
constructed of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements that also created
the stars in space. In other words, you are literally one with the universe.
It’s up to you to acknowledge, accept and apply this wisdom.
Do you feel a little more powerful already? You should. It’s
empowering to know that you share the same elements as a 4.5 billion-year-
old star. It’s empowering to know that you, a mere human being, are
constructed of the same cosmic materials that illuminate the sky and give
life to our planet. What’s more, it’s empowering to realize the stark
possibility that no gods are responsible for your existence. The scientific
truth is far more mystifying and interesting than any story of creator deities
and vengeful gods who demand worship for giving you life.
String theory presents the hypothesis that everything in the universe is
composed of vibrating strands of energy. There are several schools of
thought regarding string theory, and it’s still a relatively young branch of
scientific study. M-theory goes a step further and combines all the versions
of string theory, bringing together the varying schools of thought into what
is referred to as “The Mother of all Superstrings.” The M in M-theory has
been called “magic” by some scientists, due to the theory’s aim to
fundamentally explain the forces of nature.
Following string and M-theories, it’s easy to suggest that the existence
of energy strings could prove the existence of magick. These scientific
theories could also help in explaining how magick works without the fluff
and superstition of gods and goddesses. I suggest reading up on String and
M-theory as much as you can. It’s a complex field of science, that requires
far more than a nod in a witchcraft book to give you an adequate
understanding of it.

Chapter Three: Growing and Harvesting Energy

Followers of Wicca are instructed to invoke the spirit of the Goddess,
and followers of Christianity are told to fill themselves with “the holy
spirit.” During rituals (in numerous religions), worshipers are instructed to
work themselves up with emotion. This can be observed in Christian snake
handlers and charismatic bible groups. It can also be observed in pagan
circles where worshipers exhaust themselves during spells. All of these
concepts share one thing in common: The use of energy to manipulate
one’s environment.
With even a basic understanding of universal energy, you can use it to
your advantage. However, it takes practice and focus in order to use energy
properly to cast spells. Energy is what makes prayers work, and the misuse
of energy is what causes them to fail. Energy is what makes a witch’s spells
work, and the misuse of it is what makes them backfire. High amounts of
energy lend to successful spells, and low amounts lend to failure.
So how do you “harvest” energy for spells? To be short, you borrow
the same concepts from the beginning of this chapter. To harvest energy for
magick, you must first raise your vibrational frequency. This can be done in
a seemingly endless number of ways. The following are merely suggestions
to help get you started:
Meditation: Dedicate some time every day (or every week if you’re
super busy) to deep meditation. Meditation grounds you, and helps you
remain calm and collected, which is necessary if you want to successfully
harvest and focus energy in spellwork.
 Positive affirmations: A little self-induced narcissism is a good
thing. It gives you confidence, which definitely affects your magick.
Admire yourself in a mirror every now and then. Praise your own
appearance. Compliment your own personality and other qualities. Love
yourself.
Count your blessings: Keep a journal of everything that makes you
happy. Don’t use this journal for anything negative. If you are a journaler
who regularly records your daily interactions and feelings, use a separate
notebook for your “happies.” Revisit your entries frequently. Keep in mind
that you don’t have to stick to deep and meaningful entries. You should also
write down any mundane occurrence or thing that has given you pleasure.
Did someone buy you lunch and make you smile? Write it down. Did you
get an A on a test? Write it down. Make this a habit.
Giving is receiving: There are enough selfish people in this world.
Don’t be one of them. If you want to vibrate at a high energy frequency,
become someone that others love, appreciate and admire. Being a
humanitarian or philanthropist is a definite way to achieve this. Even
donating a small amount of time to your favorite charitable cause raises
your energy more than doing nothing at all.
Eliminating negative elements: The old saying “birds of a feather
flock together,” is both an unfortunate and fortunate truth in life. Another
truth is the saying “Like attracts like.” That’s why it’s important to pay extra
attention to whom and what you allow in your “inner circle.” Would it
reflect positively on you if your best friend was a thief, murderer or rapist?
How easily could you raise your vibrational frequency if you surround
yourself with people who vibrate at low frequencies? The same questions
should be asked about foods you eat, or your hobbies and habits. If you
wish to raise your energy, it’s best to avoid anyone or anything that causes
you distress, sadness or any other kind of discomfort. It’s also important to
avoid energy vampires—whether they realize what they’re doing or not.
Let yourself get mad, sad or frustrated: Ignore any self-help or
Law of Attraction guides that push you away from your own true nature.
It’s healthy and normal to get angry, to get depressed or to become anxious
or frustrated with situations and other people. It’s important to think about
how you handle these emotions, however. Some people have explosive
tempers. Some people are wildly emotional. Some people have anxious
personalities. Furthermore, many people suffer from a variety of psychiatric
and behavioral disorders, which make life difficult. If you’re someone who
suffers from clinical disorders of the mind or personality, it’s important to
get legitimate treatment for those issues. If you’re someone who battles
with anger issues, it’s important to seek help for them. If you wish to raise
your vibrational frequency, it’s important to take the utmost care of yourself
first and foremost—just as it’s important to allow yourself to be yourself
(within reason). Again, allow yourself to feel real and existent emotions
when they are appropriate, and exercise good judgment when you handle
these emotions. If that requires the help of professionals, self-help manuals
or intense self-reflection, then so mote it be! Forming a healthy relationship
with yourself and your emotions helps in keeping your energy balanced,
which maintains your frequency—and could help raise it.
Pursue personal fulfillment: Set goals and pursue them. If you want
to be a doctor, then put yourself on the road to med school. If you want to
be a wife and mother, pursue that dream. If you want to raise your energy,
don’t sit stagnate in a world of “wish I would haves.” Start small, but think
big and find your happiness in life. To some, magick is a way to find a path
to personal fulfillment, and that’s okay too. However, an intense feeling of
pride comes from making even a small achievement on the journey to meet
a goal. That pride certainly raises a person’s vibrational frequency, which
lends to more powerful spellwork in the future.
Get educated: Strive to learn something new every day (or every
week/month, if you’re busy), whether it be a new word or a new chapter in
a reference book. Knowledge is power, and those who are highly educated
do get further in life than those who are not. A thirst for knowledge fuels
the drive to succeed, which is good for reaching set goals.
Get creative: Strive to create something new every day, whether it be
a new recipe in the kitchen, or a modest work of art. Maybe you’re not a
creative or artistic person, and that’s okay. However, creating something (or
even planting or building something) raises your energy.
You will know when you’re vibrating at a higher frequency than
normal. Whether you follow the above list like a set of rules, or you pick
and choose which suggestions you want to follow, you will notice your
energy levels rise as you produce positive vibes into the universe around
you. You will feel happier than usual, and may even find yourself wanting
to go out and become more social. Some people may even feel tingly and
restless (in an energetic way). You will feel uplifted and maybe even hyper.
Once you start feeling this newfound confidence and high energy, you can
“harvest” it for spellwork and manifestation. Just like with raising your
vibrational frequency, using your energy can be done in a variety of ways.
You can work yourself up with cardio exercise, or you can tap into
whichever emotions you require for whatever spell you’re casting. You may
even wish to sit stationary and simply meditate or “focus” your energy into
whatever you’re doing. Technique is going to vary depending on what
you’re wanting to achieve, and this is something you’re going to need to
experiment with in order to perfect. However, I will provide some loose
examples on how to harvest your energy in the upcoming chapters of this
book.
Once you’ve “harvested” energy for spellwork, you’re going to want to
maintain your vibrational frequency. Spellwork and manifestation can be
draining, especially when you’re doing energetic work that requires you to
get “worked up” and active. It isn’t out of the ordinary to even experience
bouts of depression or anxiety after performing an energetic spell. That’s
why it’s important to continuously focus on raising your vibrational
frequency. When you cast a spell, you’re manipulating energy. When you’re
casting a spell on another person or for another person, you are
manipulating multiple energies. Regardless of the nature of the spell, you’re
going to get some side-effects, which is usually sapped energy and
whatever comes with it. Treat those side-effects by caring for yourself
immediately after casting a spell. Take a nap. Eat some chocolate. Buy
yourself something nice. Masturbate—whatever you need to do to bring
back some of what you lost during your spellwork.

Chapter Four: Casting Spells

How does an atheist witch cast spells? There is no real set answer to
this question, to be honest, because atheist witches vary in how they
practice witchcraft. In the previous chapter, I outlined how one grows and
harvests energy for spellcasting. In this chapter, I’m going to discuss how
one could cast spells while harvesting that energy they’ve raised.
Whether you use tools or not is up to you. In Wicca, witches are
instructed to use athames, wands and cauldrons. They’re told to cast
protective circles and use salt to ward off malicious spirits. In reality, you
really don’t need any tools and you don’t need to participate in any hokey
rituals. However, you may do so if it helps you focus. I personally use
candles in my craft. I also have an altar, though I don’t have one for the
same reasons that a religious Wiccan might have one. I like aesthetics, and I
use them to keep focused on my intent while casting spells. As an atheist
witch, I acknowledge that the power that fuels my spell is coming directly
from me, not a wooden stick that I might be waving around for the fun of it.
Furthermore, I realize that the color of candle I light has no effect on my
spell, or lighting a candle at all for that matter. I’m only lighting the candles
as a way to calm myself and to provide soft, flickering illumination, instead
of harsh unnatural lighting. In my craft, these little touches help keep me
grounded.
Visualization, in my opinion, is just as important as focusing energy in
spellcasting. If you don’t have a clear goal in mind—if you can’t see it, feel
it or taste it—then how are you going to successfully manifest it? When
casting a spell, you should find your intent and intensely focus on it. Do so
until you can see yourself achieving the goal you want to achieve. Perhaps
your goal is to find a new lover. In this case, you will want to focus on an
attribute that you find attractive in a lover, and visualize it being drawn to
you. If you’re wanting to attract money, then focus on an amount or on a
way through which to earn money. Visualization is difficult for some
people, especially those with attention issues. That is why there are
exercises you can do to strengthen your visualization and focus abilities.
Meditation is one way to practice visualization.
One exercise that is popularly taught is to visualize an apple. Set aside
thirty minutes to relax and meditate while picturing an apple in your mind.
With your eyes closed and your body relaxed, focus on every little detail on
the apple. Do this until you can thoroughly visualize the fruit in detail, for
several minutes at a time. It seems rather simple in text, but this is
something that requires practice, and it doesn’t come easily to some people.
Another exercise involves making an “energy ball” with your hands,
and holding it. To do this, you will need to visualize ball of light (energy) in
your hands. Imagine your hands holding the ball, and focus on every detail.
Move the ball back and forth in your hands, allowing the light to cast
shadows in your mind. This exercise can be revisited and incorporated in
some spells, as well.
You might also choose to use symbolism in your spellwork, and that’s
perfectly fine. There are numerous symbols a witch could use that represent
a variety of things. Atheist witches don’t believe in deities, but the
symbolism behind gods and goddesses can be applied to spells for
visualization—and aesthetics. For example, you don’t have to believe in
Aphrodite to acknowledge that she symbolizes love and passion. You don’t
have to believe in Lilith to know that she represents feminine power.
Mythological symbolism can be found everywhere, without express belief
in the mythology depicted. Examples of this include griffins on coats of
arms or Scotland’s national animal (the unicorn). Witches don’t necessarily
need symbolism in order to successfully cast spells, but symbolism
certainly doesn’t hurt anything—and if it helps you, then that’s great. The
end result isn’t to get lost in fantasy, but to focus your intent. As long as you
understand that you’re focusing on what the symbol represents, and not the
symbol itself, then you’re on the right track.
The kind of spell you cast is your business and yours alone. Some
witches follow a threefold law, which dictates that anything you do returns
to you, times three. This is kind of like karma, and it deters religious
witches from using their magick to harm others—which can be a good
thing. However, threefold laws and similar beliefs hinder you from
exploring everything magick has to offer. Atheist witches have different
ideas on what is acceptable and what isn’t when it comes to casting spells,
but for the most part we don’t follow any threefold law and we definitely
don’t follow the Wiccan Rede. Most of us don’t believe in the “turn the
other cheek” philosophy that religious witches have, and most of us believe
that sometimes justice has to come in the form of a spell.
How you feel about your spell determines whether or not you’re
going to suffer any negative effects. For example, if you know that you’re
doing something wrong, and you fear any kind of consequence, you’re
probably going to attract something negative in your life. This concept
works in the same way that it works on lottery winners who believe they’re
“cursed.” The more you believe you’re in for something bad, the more
likely you are to make decisions and mistakes that could manifest exactly
that. On the other hand, if you feel justified, you’re probably going to be
fine.
It’s always a good idea to avoid being a nasty witch for no reason, and
avoid targeting innocent people with negative magick. However, some
atheist witches feel that there is absolutely no such thing as indirect
consequences for one’s actions. You might feel that this gives atheist
witches carte blanche to do as they please, and perhaps it does in a way, but
don’t get that confused with the idea of “evil.” Not every person has malice
in their hearts, but some people indeed do.
Where you choose to cast spells doesn’t really matter. You can have a
traditional altar—minus the god worship—and practice magick there. Some
witches practice privately while in the bathroom, during bath time. Others
tend to take their magick anywhere they go. This applies to all witches, not
just atheists. Personally, I recommend having your own consistent magickal
space. I’m all about being centered and feeling comfortable, and stability
and consistency are things that keep me in my comfort zone. The more
comfortable I am, the more easily I cast spells. However, I have been
known to do a spell in a pinch while not in my comfort zone.

An example spell to get over a broken heart

Gather a sheet of paper, a pen, a paper plate and a small tealight or
votive candle. On the sheet of paper write down the words “I have moved
on.” Do this as many times as you can, until the paper is filled with words.
While you write down these words, you must conjure feelings
associated with opening a new—positive—chapter in your life. Do not
think at all about your broken heart. Do not think at all about the person or
event that hurt you. This is a healing spell, and you need to focus entirely
on healing. Visualize yourself as a happy, renewed person, and focus your
energy on feeling as if you have already moved on. How does it feel to have
your heart mended? How does it feel to have a new lease on life, and a
brighter outlook on the future? Tap into those feelings and direct your
energy to them.
Light your candle and sit it on top of the sheet of paper, on top of the
paper plate.
Close your eyes and continue visualizing yourself as a happy, healthy
person full of love and contentment. You must continue fooling yourself
into believing you are no longer in pain over what has caused you
heartache. Count your blessings in your head, if you must do so to help you
focus. In other words, crowd your mind with thoughts of what is currently
positive in your life, purposefully pushing out the negative.
Let the candle burn until it is spent, allowing the wax to pool in the
plate and cover the sheet of paper. Blow out the flame and allow the wax to
cool. Once it has cooled and hardened, throw it all in the trash. Now go do
something that makes you happy, to keep up with the spirit of the spell.
 An example binding spell
Gather a candle, a sharp nail or needle, and a strand of cotton thread
(approx twelve inches long).
Carve your intended message into the candle. In this case, you will
want to send a stern message to the person who has wronged you or
someone you love. Carve that you intend on stopping this person from any
further wrongdoing, and that they will stop or suffer the consequences.
Word this however you feel comfortable. While doing this, you’re going to
visualize the target of the spell. If this person is guilty of gossip, you will
visualize their mouth being covered or gagged. You may even visualize that
the person’s mouth is gone altogether, completely erased from his or her
face. If this person has caused physical harm, you can visualize this person
losing the appendage used to commit the act. Get creative.
Work up emotion while doing this. This is the energy you are
harvesting to cast the spell. Get angry and carve your candle with infuriated
intent, as you command this person—either in your mind or aloud—to
cease any offending behavior. Once you have completely covered the
candle with words of intent, take the thread and wrap it from the top of the
candle, down to the bottom. Secure the thread to the candle by driving the
nail or needle through the thread, into the wax. While you drive the sharp
object into the candle, visualize yourself stabbing your target with their own
dagger. Perhaps this is the metaphorical dagger you’ve removed from your
back. Perhaps you’ve forcefully removed the weapon from your target’s
grasps during your visualization. Again, get creative and focus intently
while you harvest the feelings of anger and determination.
Place your candle in a disposable pie tin or plate, and sit it down on the
middle of the floor in an empty room in your home. If you’re not able to do
this, or if you have carpeting in your home, you can sit it in your bathtub or
somewhere else private and fire resistant. Light the candle and let it burn
until it is spent.
Practice fire safety, and never leave candles burning completely
unattended. Once the candle has completely burned itself out, dispose of the
remaining wax safely, along with the needle, paper and plate. Now it’s time
to move on. Force the situation from your mind and avoid thinking about it.
Avoid letting it get you angry again. Be confident in knowing that you have
released your intent into the universe, and justice will be served.
 Once you’ve completed this spell, you may feel drained. You may
even have a sore throat from yelling while you cast the spell. Some people
feel the opposite—energetic and giddy. Either is normal. Energetic magick
is interesting in that it stirs different emotions in the caster.

Chapter Five: Creating and recording your own spells

While it’s fun and enriching to research spells that were created by
other witches, designing your own is far more enjoyable—not to mention
your own personal touches make your spells more effective. When you
make your own personal spell, you are pouring your energy into it, and
putting intent into it before you even cast it. This kind of makes it a double-
action spell, in a way.
If you’re new to creating your own spells, you are definitely allowed to
pick and choose from other spells until you’ve formulated a means to
manifest as you see fit. You may even start by altering spells and removing
any references to deities, to fit your atheistic needs. There really are no set
rules for this, contrary to what is taught by various religions. The aim here
is to find what makes you comfortable, instead of reaching for actions and
ideals that you struggle to memorize or enact. Magick isn’t mechanical, and
I feel that some spell books tend to give too technical of instructions, which
cause inexperienced casters to behave robotically. Magick isn’t about
robotics and it isn’t about stiff instructions like what are found in how-to
manuals. Magick is fluid, and so casting spells should be fluid as well.
You may use a notebook to record all of your spell creations—whether
you’ve tested them or not. This could help you keep track of your spells
before you try them. I recommend using a separate notebook to record
spells that you have tested. What you choose to call your journals is entirely
up to you. Wiccans call theirs “Books of Shadows,” and other witches call
them grimoires. I go back and forth between calling mine Books of
Shadows or simply journals. It doesn’t really matter what terminology
you’re using, as long as you’re recording information that you want to
retain.
Some witches write down their spells in secret alphabets, to prevent
people from being able to read their private thoughts. I support this idea, but
what I don’t really support is the use of popular languages and alphabet
systems, which can be easily deciphered by any internet savvy person. One
such popular system is Theban, or “The Witch’s Alphabet,” as it’s
commonly called. Theban is a thousands-years-old system of writing, which
was originally called the Honorian Alphabet. Theban is a substitution cipher
that has only been used magickally in contemporary times. While Wiccans
may claim that it is an ancient system of writing in regards to witchcraft,
evidence suggests that its magickal use began with them (which wasn’t all
that long ago). I recommend learning Theban, along with the Elder Futhark,
but I don’t recommend using these symbols as substitution ciphers in your
journals. Instead, I encourage you to create your own substitution cipher.
It’s up to you if you use Theban or runes to conceal your written words.
But these are easily recognizable systems of writing, and anyone with a
smartphone can capture an image of these scripts and very quickly decipher
them through a brief Google search. There are apps that are made
specifically for detecting foreign or encrypted texts in images. If you are
using a known substitution cipher at all, you are leaving yourself open to
someone else reading your private thoughts. So use Theban or other known
alphabets with that caution in mind. It’s so easy to decipher existent texts,
that you might as well just write your journals in Spanish or any other
easily-translated language.

Make your own alphabet

It’s really easy to create your own system of writing. If you google
substitution ciphers, and look at the image results, you will see an endless
availability of examples of other peoples’ creations. Use these for
inspiration, or simply to further educate yourself on the use of substitution
ciphers. When it comes to creating your own for use in a Book of Shadows,
I don’t recommend getting overly fancy with it, but the choice is ultimately
yours and yours alone. My personal substitution cipher was very easy to
make, and not at all complicated—but it looks different enough from our
own alphabet that it would be very difficult for someone to read what I’ve
written without a “key.”
Get a slip of paper long enough to write out our own alphabet, which is
twenty-six letters long. You may write down our standard alphabet across
this slip, at the top, if you choose, but I chose not to. Instead, I wrote down
my own designs in the same order as our own alphabet. For “A,” I made my
own substitution design, and I did the same for “B,” and so on, and so forth.
I did this more than than a few times, helping myself memorize the flow of
what I’ve designed. Trace over the cipher you’ve created, multiple times.
This technique is the same technique Kindergarten teachers use to teach
students how to write. Now, destroy the sheet of paper, and start over again,
writing down your cipher (in order) a single time. Print largely and clearly.
This is your key.
You don’t want your key to get into the wrong hands, so hide it
somewhere that only you will be able to find. You can cleverly hide the slip
of paper in your Book of Shadows, or tape it under a piece of furniture.
However you decide to hide it is up to you, but make sure you’ve
memorized your substitution cipher before you’ve completely hidden the
key. You also don’t want to forget where you’ve hidden the key, in case you
need to retrieve it to refresh your memory, or hand it down to someone you
trust (if you’re into that sort of thing).
You can make sigils with your own created alphabet, which is an added
bonus to creating the letters for your grimoires. This also creates your own
magick, which is far more powerful than creating sigils from existent
symbols (though you can definitely incorporate those existent symbols in
your sigils).

Chapter six: You atheist witch, you!

This book wasn’t a very long read, because the concept of atheistic
witchcraft really isn’t a complicated one to discuss. As highlighted in the
introduction of this book, the definition of atheism is an incredibly simple—
and short—one. So much confusion and misinformation surrounds atheism
and magick, that it makes it difficult for some people to grasp the idea of
atheistic witchcraft. If you’ve read through this book with interest, chances
are you’re not among the confused (or even perhaps “no longer” among
them). If you’ve enjoyed this book, you’re likely on your way to shedding
the shackles of god worship on your path of magickal wisdom.
While this book was brief, you should be interested to know that your
reading is far from over. I’ve mentioned several concepts throughout this
book that are discussed in other texts, which should be further researched.
As with other witches, an atheist witch’s pursuit for knowledge is
neverending. My personal motto is “You can never learn too much.”
Mahatma Gandhi said, “ Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if
you were to live forever.” With that said, some of the following references
were used to obtain some of the information shared in this book. Other
references are what I consider recommended reading for atheist witches, or
those who are interested in atheistic witchcraft, manifestation or other
similar concepts. I should note that I do encourage learning about other
faiths and belief systems, and I encourage making use of traditional sources
which may express belief in deities. As stated earlier in this book,
knowledge is power.

Atheistic witchcraft is traditional witchcraft:

Humanistic Paganism article:
https://humanisticpaganism.com/2014/05/14/an-atheists-magical-practice-
in-detail-by-atheistwitch/
ThoughtCo article:
https://www.thoughtco.com/wicca-witchcraft-or-paganism-2562823
Witchery 101
https://rwwgroupblog.com/2012/06/14/witchery-101-ways-and-means-an-
introduction-to-witchcraft-traditions/
Traditional Witchcraft vs. Wicca
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/betweentheshadows/2015/01/apples-and-
orangutans-traditional-witchcraft-vs-wicca/

String theory and M-theory:

The Official String Theory Website:
http://superstringtheory.com
Unam:
http://www.nuclecu.unam.mx/~alberto/physics/string.html
Physics.Org
http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=47
University of Cambridge:
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/research/gr/public/qg_ss.html

The Law of Attraction and Manifestation:

Huffington Post article:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/carla-schesser/the-law-of-attraction-
exp_b_8430270.html
Key Principles of the Law of Attraction:
http://www.thelawofattraction.org/action/
Mindvalley Academy:
https://www.mindvalleyacademy.com/blog/mind/law-of-attraction
The Abundance Project:
http://www.theabundanceproject.com/2015/06/3-key-principles-of-the-law-
of-attraction/
The Ripple Effect:
http://www.therippleeffectlife.com/Mastering-Your-
Life/manifestation/manifestation-basics/

Creating substitution ciphers:

Rumkin Cipher:
http://rumkin.com/tools/cipher/substitution.php
Practical Cryptography:
http://practicalcryptography.com/ciphers/simple-substitution-cipher/
Cornell Math:
https://www.math.cornell.edu/~mec/2003-
2004/cryptography/subs/substitution.html
Deciphering Ciphers:
http://www.dummies.com/games/cryptograms/cryptography-101-basic-
solving-techniques-for-substitution-ciphers/