April 2005
Georgia of For The Witch In You interviewed
Judika Illes, author of the new book Element Encyclopaedia of 5000 Spells.
The following
is an email
interview conducted on 30th January 2005.
 FTWIY: What
made you decide to become a writer?
JUDIKA: I’ve always written,
if only for my own pleasure. Beginning in the late 1980’s,
I began collecting fertility lore; first for my own need, but
then because what I uncovered fascinated me. Eventually, I amassed
this gigantic collection of obscure, hard-to-access information
that I felt would be useful, beneficial and fascinating for other
people too. I decided to write it down and try to have it published.
That manuscript, which for a variety of reasons has yet to be
published, included a chapter of magic spells and rituals for
fertility. The manuscript landed on the desk of the American
publisher of Element Books who liked that chapter and asked if
I’d write Earth Mother Magic for them, thus beginning my
career as a metaphysical writer.
FTWIY: How did you
become interested in the craft?
JUDIKA: I don’t
know. I puzzle about this sometimes myself. You know,
why do some of us have the interests that we do? I
have always been fascinated by the magical arts and
ancient spiritual traditions. It’s a cliché but
I think many of us have a calling. The question is
whether we’re able to respond to this call. I
am very lucky to have a much older sister who went
to art college near the old Samuel Weiser’s
bookstore in New York City, which was a tremendous
metaphysical
bookstore at a time when such things barely existed.
She would bring home astrology books and tarot cards
and so I was exposed to the magical arts from a very
young age and that started me on my path.
FTWIY: Why 5000 spells? Was it always going
to be this many, or did it just grow?
JUDIKA: That’s
a good question! My previous book, Emergency Magic has 150 spells. After
that book was finished, I was talking with my publisher, Greg
Brandenburgh about what we could do next.
He asked, theoretically speaking, whether it would be possible
to do a book with 300 spells and I said sure. He asked, “What
about one thousand?” and I said sure. This, to me anyway,
was a purely theoretical discussion— in theory, there’s
an endless quantity of spells possible. There are spells from
all over the world, variations of spells, new spells born every
day as well as old, archaic spells. Spells are infinite, fluid,
it’s like counting the drops of water in the ocean, there
are always more spells to discover. Greg asked what about 2,000,
3000, 5000? And from a theoretical point of view, of course it
can be done. At one point we were up to ten-thousand spells.
This was merely a discussion but then a few weeks later, Greg
called me and said let’s do a book with 5000 spells. And
at that point, I was very intrigued and said, okay, let’s
do it. Originally 5000 Spells was scheduled to be a 450 page
book but then when I actually started writing it became very
clear that it was impossible to squeeze five-thousand spells
into 450 pages!
FTWIY: Do you have an end in
mind that you see through to the end when you start your books,
or do you find that the end product is different than you originally
envisaged because you discover that there is so much more to
tell?
JUDIKA: Every book I’ve
written has been an adventure and learning experience for me.
I never know where they will end. They always surprise me. I
do begin with a concept of what needs to be included and what
needs to be told but that’s just the starting-off point.
For me, the process of researching is very spiritual. The books
have a life of their own; the researching aspect is simultaneously
a journey of spiritual exploration. In the case of the book I’ve
just completed, The Element Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft, it is
exactly as you suggest: there was just so much more information
than I originally envisioned or anticipated.
FTWIY: Do you have any new projects
for us to look forward to?
JUDIKA: My new book The Element
Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft is scheduled for publication this
June. It’s also a very large book and is in some ways a companion
volume to Element Encyclopaedia of 5000 Spells. I was able to explore
in greater depth some of the topics only touched upon briefly in
5000 Spells,
such as various
botanicals closely associated with different aspects of witchcraft.
Someday, I would still like to publish my fertility manuscript
as well. There is a global infertility crisis and I’m sure
many people would find that book beneficial.
FTWIY: In 5000 Spells you cover
hexing and gambling. Though you give constant warnings throughout
your book, does it worry you that people will abuse these spells?
JUDIKA: Yes, of course, hence
the constant warnings. I’m very ambivalent about those spells.
If you’ve read my very first book Earth Mother Magic you’ll
know it includes no negative spells but instead very directly discusses
why those spells were deliberately excluded.
My first inclination was to exclude malevolent spells from 5000
Spells, too. However as I was compiling the material for 5000 Spells,
it
became extremely clear just how many Protective Spells exist. There
is a huge category of spells from all over the world expressly
designed to protect against malevolent and harmful magic. If you
don’t
understand the concept of the hex, then all these protective spells
just seem hysterical and silly. You can’t understand the
Protection Spells and why there are so many of them until you appreciate
what
they are protecting against.
Also, in my experience, the metaphysical community tends to be
an incredibly ethical community. And as a writer, you have to trust
your readers to be intelligent,
responsible people who are able to read subtle, morally complex material and
make appropriate decisions about what they’ve read.
That said, if you are familiar with the vast topic of spell-casting, you’ll
realize that I did exclude many spells: there are no spells in 5000 Spells
that advocate animal cruelty, for instance, although countless such spells
exist.
There are no spells in 5000 Spells that advocate violence towards either animals
or people. And those spells do appear in many other books. Many exorcism rituals,
for instance, as well as some infertility spells involve one person beating
another. I offer several fairy changeling spells in 5000 Spells but not one
involves violence,
although those also exist. My new book, The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft, includes
an entry on Bridget Cleary, the so-called Fairy Witch, who was murdered during
a violent changeling-removal spell.
I could not in good conscience include any of those spells. That was a conscious
decision: it wasn’t easy coming up with five thousand spells. There are
a ton of animal cruelty spells; it would have been easier and faster to compile
five thousand spells if those had been included but I consciously rejected
them.
FTWIY: Which is your favourite
Sabbat and why?
JUDIKA: In all fairness, I’ve
never met a festival or celebration I didn’t like but I have
special fondness for Midsummer’s. Midsummer’s is a
little overlooked today in favour of other Sabbats but for centuries
that was the night most associated with witchcraft, magic and especially
with botanical magic, which I love. Midsummer’s coincides
with the Summer Solstice and so it also introduces my favourite
season of the year. It’s a joyous, happy Sabbat that celebrates
the beauties of Earth and witchcraft.
I love Samhain, too and Beltane and then there’s Valentine’s Day,
which isn’t a Sabbat but which actually descends from an ancient Roman
Pagan festival, the Lupercalia and has many beautiful aspects to it that have
nothing to do with the commercialized holiday it’s become.
FTWIY: In the Element Encyclopaedia of 5000
Spells, you talk about magic from all over the world and over thousands of years.
If you could choose a place and time to visit, where and when would it be?
JUDIKA: Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be
the fly on the wall and be able to observe so many places and times? If I had
to choose only one time and place, it would probably be ancient Egypt. I would
love to be able to time-travel back to the Temples of Isis, Bastet and Hathor
and really experience the rituals instead of only reading about them.
For more about Judika and her marvellous books, please visit her
personal web site :: Judika
Illes
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