Bindings
article by Aurelia Anne
This is a subject that I do not take lightly as there are many ways one can view a binding. For example, in my 11 years of magical practice, bindings have been an essential part of that practice. However, there are
those who believe that bindings are akin to curses/hexes and should not be done at all. As the authors of Paganpath.com put it, "[bindings] can be seen in the light you would see a gun. No one should wave around a loaded gun."
Before I discuss the whys and why nots, I'd like to inform you on the different kinds of bindings one may come across.
What is a Binding?
A binding is a magickal spell that (for the most part) permanently attaches itself to that which is the subject of the spell. Bindings tend to work hand in hand with banishings depending on the particular spell. You can use a mirror spell to send the energy back to your attacker and then bind it to him indefinitely. You can bind someone to a promise they've made, especially if that particular person has been known to go back on their word.
Types of Bindings
What I am trying to point out is that there are varying degrees of bindings. Handfasting/ Wedding ceremonies are a lighter type of binding because you are vowing to your betrothed to forsake all others, thereby "binding" yourself to him. Consequently, you are binding yourselves to each other, happily.
There are bindings that some would consider cursing. One such example would be using a spell to bind oneself to someone whose affections are not returned. This can lead to disastrous consequences for the binder. As a matter of fact, any binding done incorrectly can lead to disastrous consequences.
This is typically where karma comes into play; what you unnecessarily to unto others, so shall it be done unto you.
The use of voodoo dolls or poppets are essential to binding. Here you are taking and effigy of the person whom you are binding and physically wrap them with ribbon or string of a certain color pertaining to the particular spell. This is, you'll find, the most popular type of binding because you are taking something that is of the bindee and making it metaphysically real.
You can bind yourself to try to help break yourself of bad habits. This, again, can be done by using a poppet or a photograph and your own blood.
With all bindings, to close out the spell you would want to leave it in a place of stagnation such as: freezing it, throwing it into a bog or pond where there is no flowing water, or simply letting it be carried
away to a landfill via your local waste removal service.
A Sample Binding
The following is a simple binding spell that can be done against someone who has made a promise and you want them to actually keep their word.
1. Create a poppet in that person's image by including a photograph and/or a personal object (ring, piece of cloth, hair, etc.)
2. Write what was promised on piece of paper and wrap it around the poppet.
3. Take a blue (truthfulness) ribbon or string and wrap completely wrap it around both paper and doll while chanting your will.
After this, take the doll and bury it at the crossroads of a cemetery or dispose of it in any manner in which will get it away from you.
Morality and Bindings
There is a saying that has been attributed to the famous witch and author Starhawk: "A witch who can not hex, cannot heal." This has lead to great debate amongst those in the greater Pagan community at large.
Typically, I have found that Wiccan followers who strictly adhere to the Wiccan Rede never use bindings in their practice. As one Wiccan I've spoken with puts it, "The Wiccan Rede tells us that you can do as you will as well as you harm none. Binding, in its own way, is harming. You may think you are helping a given person when in fact, you are harming them by taking their free will from them with the binding." Others bend a little according to their needs if they are in a particular situation where general banishings don't seem to be doing the trick.
So where does that leave the rest of us non-Wiccans? In my personal opinion, I feel that bindings are a necessary part of one's magickal practice, one I've had to use many a time. To me, bindings are nothing more than another incantation one should keep in one's grimoire. Bindings are useful because instead of just banishing that person or thing that's causing you grief, you are using that thing's own will against itself. One is simply protecting oneself against that which would seek to destroy.
When you bind something or someone, you are taking that energy and sending it back to and surrounding it or him. I am not advocating the idle use of bindings, however, don't misinterpret my meaning here. When there is true, just cause for the use of a binding, the Universe will back you up.
Binding
“What is Binding?”
Binding is an advanced magickal technique that is too often played around with by people who simply don't know any better.
A Binding is a spell that blocks or restricts the flow of energy. Think of a binding as building a dam. There are many constructive uses for dams, but if they aren't built properly, you can create major destructive potential.
Bindings are commonly used to stop or prevent the actions of another person. By their very nature, Binding spells prohibit the free will of another. Therefore, they violate the Wiccan Rede, and should only be considered as an extreme and final form of self defense. Binding spells are not the answer to petty animosities between people... in fact, that is when they are most likely to backfire.
A Binding is designed to block, bind, or otherwise restrict the flow of energy of another person. In order to do this, the magician must link their personal energies to the person they wish to bind. Thus, the magician becomes equally bound. Therefore, if the magician is in the least bit suspect in their motives for building this “dam”, it will break and flood the magician with the after-affects.
This type of magick is strongly discouraged for the potential negative consequences associated with it. Not recommended until you've been working with energy for a long time, if ever.
