Rhyming incantations in witchcraft or no?

[mike]

To those who use incantations in your witchcraft do you make them Rhyme or no? And if you do do you think they are stronger because they rhyme?

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

poetry can be helpful for many different reasons. It isn't needed, but when done well it can be a strong tool

 

[Keldan]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Yes, I would rhyme when I want the words to be memorable and chantable. No, I wouldn’t rhyme when I need the wording to be very direct and clear. Where clear language is more honest and powerful, and forcing a rhyme would weaken it.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

Rhyming helps to memorized, this is why all the old tales and oral stories used it.

In magick, it can also help to create a pattern and triggering psychodrama (people who watched Charmed as kids know how witchy it sounds when words rhyme)

However it's not necessary.

 

[annfwn]

I like rhyming, but I don't know if it's necessarily the rhyming itself that makes my incantations stronger. From a bardic viewpoint, the true power of an incantation comes from being infused with Divine Inspiration, regardless of whether it rhymes. Still, rhyme and rhythm can help create a focused, flowing state that supports the work.

 

[pf3ix85fe Pandora]

i generally rhyme when it is something that is longer than a small 2 line cantrip. The reason for this is not because it is stronger per se. It is because it is easier to memorize and keep my place in the incantation. That allows me to concentrate and pour more intent into it.

Rhyming versus not is really about how the practitioner operates. There is not one that inherently is stronger. It's all about intent.

 

[Grayhoss]

Its a useful tool, I find, in inducing the alteration of consciousness which makes a Working easier.
There's a piece from Andre Norton's 'Lavender Green Magic' from my childhood that came to epitomize magic to me, even before I was called to Medicine Way.

By all the Power of Land and Sea
As I do say, so mote it be!
By all the Might of Moon and Sun
As I do will, let it be done!
By the Inmost fire, grant this desire
As I have wrought it, let it so be!
So Mote It Be!

(Interestingly enough, it seems this is a paraphrase from the Gardnerian Book of Shadows. It seems that those who claimed Norton had tried her hand at the Craft at one point may have truth on their side..)

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

The rhyming scheme helps you remember your spells and make them more intuitive. Its kind of like how its easier to teach kids a concept if you can teach them a simple catchy song. The kid remembers 7x7 = 49 because you taught them a rhyme scheme with that built into it. Common advice in magic is to not read off the paper or out of the book, to know your prayer or appeal by memory so the rhyming scheme/spell song is a practical tool to do that. Its not necessary though.