Whenever I see glamour spells, they’re usually in regards to makeup or feminine maintenance. This isn’t a bad thing – those spells are wonderful, and I love reading them (especially given the fact that I see them as being useful for myself at times). But often I find that there’s a bit of a lack of glamour spells for men.
I’m talking about glamour spells for shaving, for cologne, and the like. And while this is a tip and meant to be brief, I wanted to put a few out for my male followers who want to keep up a masculine appearance, but want to work a little magic into their daily routines!
Shaving: Depending upon your shaving method, there are plenty of ways to work in glamours. I personally use a safety razor and shaving soap (you know, the old-fashioned kind with the ceramic dish and solid soap bar inside that you froth up with water and a hog-hair brush). If you use this method, choose scents that you associate with that which you want to bring into your life (patchouli for enhancing masculine fertility, dragon’s blood for strength, et cetera). If the type of soap you buy has scented options, this is a great way to work it in. If not, be careful to check and see if it is safe to work essential oils into your lather. (It is important to use safe oils and in small amounts, as shaving causes micro-abrasions on the skin; if it is not a safe oil, or you’re using too much of it, it will cause the skin to dry out.)
A similar method can be applied to other lathers and creams, though these often come with plenty of scents.
Working sigils into makeup is a frequent form of glamour spell, and shaving can incorporate this as well. With a small amount of the lather, you can draw the sigil onto your skin before spreading it out – spread the lather out in clockwise circular motions while visualizing and focusing your intent into your skin and lather.
Shaving can also be a spell unto itself – the scraping away of negative traits or energy. As you shave away your hair, visualize the negative energies or negative traits coming up off of your skin and being removed from your body.
And I should point out that these shaving tips apply not only to the face, but to wherever you are shaving. That said, if you’re “manscaping,” I would recommend against using the oils unless you’re absolutely certain that they’re safe, and recommend choosing scents and sigils for increasing potency, male sexual energy, et cetera.
Colognes: As I get into this, I want to make a huge point here. Guys, whether you’re into other men, into women, or into the whole spectrum, scent has no gender. What can often be universally agreed is that some body sprays simply aren’t appealing. First step to scent-based glamour spells is to avoid scents that make you smell like the inside of a middle school (or even high school) locker room after PE or a football game. For the majority of ladies and men, that’s just not an appealing scent (and sprays are often more damaging to your environment than is immediately realized).
That said, deodorants and colognes are a great way to work some glamour into your daily routine. Select scents that you associate with your goal. If you’re using a stick deodorant, you can mark a sigil on the bottom of the container, or you can take a moment to hold the deodorant in your hand and empower it with your intent. The same can be done with colognes and perfumes (yes, perfumes… again, scent has no gender). Floral and fruity scents can work wonders, so choose floral or fruity scents associated with your intention.
Skin and Hair Care: It is important to remember that while society on the whole doesn’t seem to focus much on male skin and hair care, it is still vitally important. Using moisturizers is beneficial, and sigils and the like can be worked into your skin – scents add further benefits for this. As you wash and moisturize, again use your intentions and energy to confer those intentions into your spell.
Though for the most part, shorter hairstyles are the norm for men, that isn’t to say that glamours can’t be incorporated. Sigils on your products, empowering your shampoos and pomade, rinsing your hair with essential oils. All of these can be done to further reinforce your glamours.
Clothing and Accessories: Whether you wear jewelry or not, this is still an option for men. If you wear jewelry, you can empower your accessories with your intention. Clothing can be marked with sigils on the tags, or washed with appropriate oils. Anything that works with your appearance can be incorporated into a glamour spell!
Last point I want to make is that glamour spells unto themselves are gender neutral. If there’s any take away I want there to be with this witchy tip, it’s that everyone can be beautiful/handsome and can incorporate magic into their routine to add to that. Confidence and humility are sexy, and by embracing your personal style and adding your own magical flair, you can further empower these aspects into your life!
Stemming from the old Scots word, a “glamour” (always spelt with the British “ou”, as we are referring to the spell not the trait) is a kind of magickal spell or enchantment that a person casts upon an object, a person, or themselves to confuse, bewitch or obscure the senses of other observers. For instance, a pickpocket may use glamours as a means of assisting in the avoidance of detection, and a secret Witch may use a glamour to hide their spell supplies. Glamours are also one of the primary spells that the Fae Folk use to hide their presence, and also to make mischief and cause harm to intrusive or blundering humans who offend them.
Why have I never heard of this before?!
Probably because it’s not very flashy and, by its very nature, it’s centred around concealment. Glamours are very powerful, very useful spells, but they don’t involve love or money or luck or happiness and so they tend to be overlooked by most novice or self-taught Witches. They’re also quite hard to perfect, and so many more experienced Witches give up before they have mastered them.
They are simultaneously very simple spells to perform, but very difficult to perfect, as they require significant effort of Will and a lot of practice but if you achieve a true glamour it can be one of the most powerful spells in any Witch’s arsenal. It’s also worth noting, however, that glamours do not conceal things from machines. Machines like metal detectors, security cameras and proximity detectors don’t have minds, and as such they cannot be fooled by magick that affects the mind and how the brain perceives senses. They also work poorly on animals, especially cats. Do not try to fool a cat with a glamour. Dogs are often confused by glamours, but generally see through them with time, and snakes and lizards are completely immune as far as I can tell (since their minds are not concerned with things that glamours affect).
OK, but how do I cast a glamour?
The first step is, as with all spells, to decide to do it. Decide “I am going to cast a glamour”. Know it in your soul, know that what you will do is magick, it is a glamour, and that it’s purpose is to hide yourself. Glamours on yourself are generally the easiest to start with, because they are the easiest kind with which to tell when something needs improving.
Secondly, you must visualise strongly – and I mean REALLY strongly, let it consume your being – the purpose of the glamour. Fill yourself with the knowledge how how it will work, what it will do, how it will work. If you are looking for a glamour of imperception, whereby you attempt to make yourself hard to see by convincing the minds of people around you that you are utterly uninteresting and forgettable, fill yourself with that. Let to complete and utter truth of that ring through your head;
“I am forgettable, I’m not even here. You don’t remember me, I’m utterly boring, I’m just another part of the background. Everything about me is empty and dull. There is nothing here”
And similar such truths. Let your Willpower make them true, let their truth fill the world around you through the strength of your visualisation.
Thirdly, sustain it. This is the hardest step, but a glamour will only last for as long as it is sustained and remembered. If you are visualising a glamour on something that moves or changes (such as yourself) this can involve literally constant reinforcement – never ever stop thinking those reinforcing statements and pouring all your Willpower into them. For objects that are more static, for instance a chest containing spell supplies, this can simply involve a period of refreshment every evening whereby you place your hands upon it and refresh the enchantment you’ve placed upon the chest, reminding it of how completely ignorable and boring it is, reminding it that nobody will open it because nobody will care enough to try, that nobody will notice it because it’s so dull it’s not even there.
That seems REALLY hard, is there a simpler way?
The short answer is, no. This is why glamours are often quite unpopular – despite their obvious power and usefulness, the sheer effort of Will that goes into the construction of a glamour, and the amount of practice you need to get really good, can scare off a lot of Witches from truly persisting. Those who need glamours are often the only ones who are really any good at them – the best glamour-caster I have ever known developed her skill during her life as a pickpocket, when she used glamours to avoid getting caught. The simple fact that she has no criminal record attests to their efficacy! But, it took her a very long time to get that good, and most Witches simply don’t care enough to try.
However, I urge you to do so! It’s such a rewarding skill, even if only so that you can be the undisputed champion of paintball and laser tag in your friend group because nobody ever sees you in the shadows.
So there you are! The ancient, powerful, and mostly-overlooked art of glamours! I hope this helped all you lovely Witches!
– Juniper Wildwalk
Glamours are exceptionally useful and I strongly recommend learning them. 🙂
These are very fun to learn how to do. And for me (at least) a great way to practice the art of Glamour is to practice while in a mall or shopping center. I know one of my favorite glamours is envision myself becoming this massive and scary tank while walking through Walmart, so people get out of my way or move to the other side of the aisle. But an invisibility glamour can work wonders especially if you have late night classes and you need to get to your car after class and the area gets a bit sketchy after dark. It will help you go unnoticed (speaking from personal experience here).
Willow Wisp's Witching Corner 