Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes those mistakes need solutions… 

So what’s a witch to do when a spell goes terribly wrong and everything is screwed? Well, it’s time to reverse your spell of course!

Why Would You Need To Reverse A Spell?

There are plenty of reasons why a witch might want to undo a spell ranging from fairly innocuous reasons like boredom to severe reasons like potentially hurting someone. There are two main reasons that most spells need to be reversed though.

1. Unwanted results

Sometimes you cast a spell and things just do not come out right. You cast a weight loss spell and instead of inspiring you to eat healthier it gives you food poisoning so you can’t eat for 3 days. Or you place a little hex on someone who annoyed you and the little hex ends up being a big hex because you were in such a rotten mood. Or that money spell is just causing you to find an unusual number of pennies on the sidewalk instead of sending you money through useful means. 

If for whatever reason you’ve cast a spell and the results just aren’t doing it for you then it’s time to break your own spell.

2. You no longer need the spell

Sometimes the reasons for undoing a spell are much more mundane. Perhaps the spell has simply run its course and it’s time to close it down. Maybe you put someone on ice temporarily to give yourself time to think things over. Maybe that healing spell has done its work and is now just draining your energy even though the injury is long since healed. Maybe a ward needs to be disassembled so that you can build a better one. It’s ok to get rid of an old spell that you cast just because you’re done with it!

How To Reverse A Spell

Start by taking stock. What do you have related to that spell? Do you have the remnants of the materials used to cast the spell? Do you have notes on the casting? Journal entries about the process or the results? Nothing? 

What you have will help you decide what kind of reversing process to use. There are many ways to reverse a spell but you need to consider your options carefully because an ineffective reversing can make things much more difficult going forward.

There are a few different methods to choose from.

Burning the Remnants

Burning spell remnants is a pretty straightforward way to break a spell unless the spell was cast with fire. If you used fire to cast the spell, more fire will just make it stronger. Any other type of spell, however, will likely be broken by this action. The biggest caveat to this method is that you have to have the remnants! If you’re not good at keeping and labeling your spell remains you’re going to have a rough time with this method.

For those of you who do keep spell remains, the process is quite simple, you just light everything on fire (be safe and make sure to use fire-safe containers for this!). If you want, you can say an incantation or add a pinch of an herb that will help cancel out the energy of your spell but those steps are optional. Keep in mind that nothing dangerous should be burnt, don’t put plastic in the fire and make sure that any herbs involved won’t be harmful if you inhale the smoke.

Counter Casting

If you know exactly how a spell was cast then you can theoretically cast a spell to cancel out the first one. For this, detailed notes on the original spell are necessary. Unless you have a flawless memory and can remember every part of the spell from the words used to all of the tools and ingredients you won’t be able to properly cancel out all of the moving parts properly.

In order to design a counter casting, take note of every element of the spell. Did you use words? Herbs? Tools? Was it cast at a certain time or moon phase? Did you meditate or use visualization? What kind of spell did you use?

When you’ve listed out every detail about the spell, it’s time to cancel each item out. If you used herbs in your spell find herbs that hold the opposite energy. If you used fire in your original spell, use water in the counter spell. If you said an incantation, write a new incantation to cancel out the first one. If you meditated, create a new meditation to refocus your energy in the opposite direction. The important thing is that these elements hold a fairly precise opposite energy to the original. Fire won’t cancel out a spell cast with earth and if you use an herb for attracting love a simple banishing herb won’t do the trick. You need to get specific!

After this, take your list of opposites and construct a ritual out of them. If you like you can essentially work your original spell in reverse with the new opposite spell elements but if that isn’t possible simply incorporating all of the elements into a new counter spell should be enough.

Redirecting the Spell

Redirecting a spell is a good way to handle the need to reverse a spell when you don’t have the details or the supplies to try the previous two methods. With this method, you will be creating a poppet to take the place of your original spells target. To do this most effectively, you will need a taglock (a taglock is something that ties a person to a spell such as a lock of their hair, toenail clippings, a toothpick they chewed on, etc.). This taglock will allow you to take the original spell and, instead of canceling it out altogether, simply redirect it somewhere that it can do no harm.

There are many methods of poppet making, from cloth dolls to corn husks, to paper, or clay, or wax figures. Choose a method that you are comfortable with.

Make sure that the taglock you’ve taken from the target is incorporated into the poppet in some way. This will allow the doll to take on their essence and become an acceptable substitute energetically.

In order to redirect the energy, you’ll need to hold a naming ritual. Set up your altar as you like, with the poppet making materials and at least two candles. Begin the ceremony by casting a circle (while I usually don’t hold to the idea of circles being necessary for every spell it does make this spell considerably easier). After your circle is opened, light the candles, one to your left and one to your right on the altar. Make your poppet now, focusing on the intent of the original spell as you do so to call it back into your reach. Again, you MUST incorporate the taglock into your poppet during this process!

Once your poppet is made, set it in the center of the altar, hold your hands above it and call to mind an image of the person whose place it will be taking (or, if you’re not a visual person call to mind the sound of their voice, the way their energy feels, or how they smell). When you have the image of them in your mind recite the incantation over the poppet 7 times. Begin by whispering softly to the poppet and gradually raise your voice with each repetition until you are speaking quite loudly. Fill in the blanks with the name of your original target.

“I name you ______! ______ is who you are and who you shall be evermore.”

If you’ve performed the ritual correctly the poppet will now be the new target of the spell you cast. Close the circle and place the poppet somewhere safe (preferably a box by itself) for one moon cycle. At the end of the moon cycle, dispose of the poppet by burying, burning, or breaking it (whatever is appropriate for the kind of material you used).

Temporary Pause

This method is not ideal but it can be useful to stop the effects of a spell while you figure out a more permanent way to get rid of it. If the situation is dire and the target is in imminent harm, this method can give you a few days to gather supplies, this is NOT a permanent solution! It’s not even a very long lasting solution, the most I’ve seen this kind of spell work is for one week. This spell should always be followed by a more effective spell, it’s just designed to give you a few more days to get everything in order.

You will need:

• A freezer
• A square slip of paper and a red pen
• Black pepper for binding
• Water and a small container to freeze everything in

Take the slip of paper and on one side write the name if the original target. On the other side write the intention of the spell that you need to pause. Fold all 4 corners of the paper inward, covering the intention of the spell, so that it makes a small envelope. Into this envelope, place a pinch of black pepper. Put the envelope and its contents into the bottom of your container and fill it with water. Put the whole thing into the freezer. You should now have 3-5 days to figure out a better solution.

What Not To Do

There are many ways to deal with a spell gone bad but there’s one thing that you absolutely do NOT want to do. Under no circumstance should you reflect the spell. It seems obvious when you think about it but spell reflection is the knee-jerk reaction of many witches when it comes to nasty spells. Reflecting a spell bounces the energy of the spell back on the caster, i.e. you. Unless you’re really into the effects of the spell and want them for yourself you definitely don’t want to do this. And since you’re here reading about how to undo spells I’m going to guess that this isn’t the case. Always remember, if you’re the caster you should NEVER use a reflecting spell.

On The Subject Of Spell Remnants

This is a particularly important bit of magical hygiene. Many witches dispose of their spell remnants immediately and for many spells, this is perfectly fine. Your run of the mill banishing, cleansing, etc. won’t need to be kept. Most other spells warrant at least a bit of consideration when it comes to keeping the remnants. If the spell could possibly go badly then you should place all remnants into an envelope and label the envelope with the spell name and date. Keep all remnants for AT LEAST one lunar cycle. If the spell hasn’t come to fruition by that time keep it longer. You want to observe the effects of the spell before disposing of the remains! 

If you can’t keep the remnants or there are no remnants then keep extremely detailed notes about the spell. This will give you another avenue to undo a botched spell and prevent possible collateral damage.

The vast majority of spells will likely not need to be reversed but in the event that you DO need to reverse a spell, you will be glad that you’ve kept these things.

A non-exhaustive list of spells that you should ALWAYS keep remnants for:

• Love spells
• Healing spells
• Prosperity/job spells
• Any spell that you do for yourself
• Curses
• Hexes
• Weight loss spells
• Mental health related spells
• Love spells (this is on the list twice because SERIOUSLY KEEP THESE REMNANTS. Love spells are the #1 type of spell that goes bad)

A little bit of magical hygiene can go a long way when it comes to preventing and reversing spell mishaps. It doesn’t take much effort and it can make your journey as a witch FAR more pleasant! Nobody likes making mistakes but having the means to fix your mistakes is the mark of a responsible witch.

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Updated on August 20, 2023 by Avery Hart