by Leigh Goff

The light of Protection, I carry it strong.

No ill wishes or trouble, can come along.

You cannot harm me, or weaken my soul.

My light is my weapon, and peace is my goal.

–Author Unknown

What is a witch, but a powerful woman? In my stories what makes her powerful is more than magic. It is the willingness to sacrifice herself for the ones she loves. It is the ability to face her fears with courage she didn’t know she had. It’s also having the heart to tap into her talents when needed, and if that includes spell casting and curse breaking at any cost, so be it.

Because of interest in the witches’ spells in my books, I compiled a few from Disenchanted and Bewitching Hannah to share. In my upcoming novel, KOUSH HOLLOW, the magic comes from the women of the bayou–it embodies the mysticism of the Deep South and is no less powerful.

DISENCHANTED

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Goodchild from the wickedly wonderful town of Wethersfield, Connecticut struggles with her magic as she finds forbidden love along with a centuries-old true love curse. Here are a few spells, some spoken in Latin, from Disenchanted.

“Expedio” and “Sejungo.” Sophie casts these Latin words early in the story when she’s struggling to make her magic work.

“Illuminaire.” As Sophie tries to muster a flash of brilliant light, she fumbles with her spell, so it only stirs fireflies to flash their tiny lights.

“Ictus.” Sophie hopes for a windstorm when she encounters a boy who should be her family enemy, but she’s love struck and only flower petals rain down on her and Alexavier.

“Flos.” Trying to craft an herbal potion for aging, she wishes for the necessary seed to sprout, but she must will it with everything in her along with speaking this Latin word to summon its growth.

“Verum.” Sophie casts this spell on the boy she thinks she must hate, but instead of him speaking the truth, a heart shape appears in the bark of a mulberry tree trunk behind him. The tree is significant in this story as it is in Pyramus and Thisbe. They are the ill-fated couple, like Romeo and Juliet, and they planned to meet under a mulberry tree.

“Summon spirits in flames from hell. Sacred trees and blood dispel. From my heart I chant the spell, to bid thy true love curse farewell.” As Sophie strengthens her skills she must face the final challenge of breaking her family’s curse, cast by her wicked Wethersfield ancestor three hundred years ago.

“Semper memoriam tui delebo Diamond”- She commands Judge Mather to forget about the rare red diamond used as a blood charm that has caused so much trouble.

“Relego.”-After ingesting wolfsbane, a deadly poison, Sophie struggles to bring her true love back from the brink of death, knowing she herself cannot live without him.

BEWITCHING HANNAH

When an ancient prophecy reveals the rise of a young, powerful Chesapeake witch and the impending death of another, sixteen-year-old Hannah Fitzgerald realizes she can no longer repress the magic that has taken away so much. There’s also the Grey witch’s Arundell Curse plaguing Hannah and her mysterious love interest, W.

“By the power of fire, I do summon and churn, and call thee forth to blaze and burn.” Hannah casts this spell, needing heat from her hands to burn through a seatbelt when she’s trapped in a fiery wreck.

Her frenemy, Arora, demonstrates her dark magic when she captures an insect and kills it with this spell, “By my command and desire, your pesky little death I require.”

“Something black and spry, multiply and then you die.” The dark-hearted Arora casts a different spell on a black widow spider and as the original dies, she says, “There’s always a price to pay.”

The nefarious Emme using magic to fight with Hannah says, “For the trouble you have inflicted on me, double shall I inflict on you.” She snaps Hannah’s icy doppleganger statue in half and Hannah doubles over in agony.

Arora clasps her fingers around a small gray rock and says, “Solide à slither est mon désir, un changement de forme, je ne demande.” She drops the rock and it turns into a hissing snake as it hits the ground.

KOUSH HOLLOW

As Jenna Ashby, the sixteen-year-old eco-warrior, is introduced to the Diamonds & Pearls, her mother’s exclusive New Orleans social club, she comes to the troubling realization that secrets are a way of life in Koush Hollow. She’s also cursed with her cold, narcissistic mother, Rayna, who’s ambitions are limitless.

In the excerpt below, Jenna is drawn to the local Voodoo priestess, Mama Ismay. She watches her craft a mystical potion using bayou magic, but Jenna is left with more questions than answers when she sees what’s in the mysterious aquarium.

KOUSH HOLLOW EXCERPT

Mama Ismay reached for another bottle. The blue-green liquid within shimmered. “From da horseshoe crab.” She dripped the blood into the malevolent liquid. From a bowl, she scooped silver-colored flakes and tossed them into the flames followed by a fistful of fine blue crystals.

I had to know. “Copper chloride?”

“Feu bleu. Blue fire.” Orange flames flashed to a cerulean blue and burned hot enough to heat my face from a distance. She sprinkled a fine pink powder onto a conch shell and held it over the fire for a few seconds while chanting.

“What are you saying?”

She raised the shell over her head. “I am summonin’ da magic of my ancestor spirits who came before me.” She dropped the whole shell into the pot and turned to me.

I lifted my eyebrows with surprise. Did she really believe she could summon magic from dead people?

“How did you find us?” A crease appeared between her brows. “I doubt our location was given readily.”

 I stared, mesmerized by the mystical concoction, steam rising from its gurgling depths as it reduced over the crackling, blue fire. “I, um, did my research.”

“Dat’s what scientists do, no?”

I wasn’t sure about her so-called magic, but she was using quite a bit of science herself with that potion. Her expression left me wondering. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but you look like there’s something troubling you.”

“You shouldn’t have come here.” She covered the pot with a grassy cloth and headed to a another room. I followed.

“Why not? I had a lot of questions and I felt you were the only one to answer them.”

Next to a chair covered in oyster shells was an antique aquarium with beautiful, brass seahorse legs and brass oyster-shaped lights that illuminated the water. Within the water delicate, glass spheres the size of golf balls in varied pastel hues floated up and down in a slow, rhythmic pattern, never reaching the surface. I stood over it for a better look. An unexpected wave of heat rose up and warmed my cheeks.

“What is this?”

She snatched a dried, green strip from the table next to her and snapped off a mouthful. “Sea grass jerky. Want a piece?”

“No thanks.” My gaze returned to the mysterious floating balls. “I mean, why are there balls in a fish tank and what’s in them?”

“What do you think is in dem?”

“Don’t know. Balls filled with air would follow Archimedes’ principle—they would float because buoyant force caused by water pressure is stronger than the force of gravity pulling down on the balls. However, those are going up and down without reaching the surface.”

She turned her focus on the aquarium. “Da balls contain somethin’ more precious dan air.”

My gaze shifted to hers. “Rare fish species’ eggs?” Was the aquarium an incubator?

“No,” she said, sounding anxious. She stepped closer and hovered her hands over the water and when she turned back to me, her cheeks were flushed with color.

Purchase Links

KOUSH HOLLOW

The Parliament House

Amazon

DISENCHANTED Purchase Links:

Amazon

B&N

Mirror World

BEWITCHING HANNAH Purchase Links:

Amazon

B&N

Mirror World