How to Cast a Spell

 First, this is intended simply to give a basic idea of what is involved in much of modern spell casting as I am familiar with it.  It is not intended to be the last word or a step by step “how-to” that needs to be followed dogmatically.  Personally, I don’t really think any of this is necessary, but many who are unfamiliar with raising and directing energy for spell work find these steps to be helpful.  Hopefully, once you get the “feel” of working with magical energies, you won’t need to worry about doing any of this unless you want to.  

       If you are wanting to learn to do *formal* spell casting, and how to eventually write your own spells, the best ways is to first study spells and rituals other people have done to sort of get a feel for how they are constructed, what kind of rhythm they have, etc.
       Then you have to make sure you understand what the various components of the spell are for: what is the purpose of this herb, that stone... why this rune and not that one?  (There are all sorts of correspondence charts out there that can give you a good place to start.  Here is one example Magical Herbs )
       Next, you would want to learn the magical influence of the lunar phases, and what influence certain days of the week and the various planets have on spell casting (See Week Days & Moon Phases ).  For example, spells involving romantic relationships, for best effect, would be performed on Friday which is Freya's Day, Norse Goddess of Love, and ruled my the planet Venus.  And spell for strength and courage to deal with conflict would be cast on Tuesday which is Tir's Day, Norse war god, and ruled by the planet Mars. 
      NOTE: The only exception to this would be if you have a patron deity you work with primarily.  Then you can either just invoke your patron God or Goddess alone, or you can invoke Him or Her along with which ever deity has primary influence over the outcome you are aiming for.  Just be certain you are invoking from within the same pantheon of your patron deity, or from a pantheon whose people have been allied with yours.

        For instance, you should never invoke the Sumerian goddess Lilith for the protection of children, or to bless a marriage.  Why?  She abandoned Her husband and killed Her own children in order to serve the Greater Good.  What does this mean for spell casting?   It means that to Lilith, children, husbands and family come second to the concept of the Greater Good and should be willingly set aside if need be to protect that Greater Good.  To protect children and or one's marriage, you would be better off to invoke Juno, Hera, Brigit, Isis or someone similar.
       Oh, and PLEASE make sure you don't invoke deities who are historical enemies or who come from opposing cultures in the same ritual.  In fact it is rarely, if ever, a good idea to mix pantheons regardless of what many modern Wiccan authors may say.  You put Freya in the same circle as Ares and you are going to get trouble.  Freya was also the Norse Goddess of War, and we all know who Ares is.  Rome and the Germanic tribes that comprised the Norse civilizations were DEADLY enemies.

     And finally, raising and focusing energy is basically an act of will backed up by visualization.  When raising energy imagine/visualize yourself surrounded by fog or smoke.  This represents the ambient energy that naturally exists around you.  When you focus your will to collect and utilize this energy, every time you inhale imagine/visualize yourself drawing in that energy into your body, and every time you exhale, imagine/visualize yourself directing that energy out of your body and into the components of the spell your are conducting.

       After that it's pretty much trial and error.  Which is why every decent book on learning magic and spell casting suggests keeping a magical diary where you write down what you did, how you did it, *WHY* you did it and what the results were.  That way you can learn what works for you and what doesn't