How to Cast Spells: Effigies as Ritual Tools

What is an effigy? This blog post outlines their function, theory, and practice

What is an Effigy?

An effigy is a constructed figure or representation, most often humanoid, animal, or spirit-form, used in ritual, spellwork, or spirit mediumship. Effigies can be made from wax, clay, wood, cloth, paper, or even roots and are charged to act as a vessel, proxy, or link in magical operations.

How To Cast Spells with Effigies?

In occult and animist practice, effigies serve as intermediary bodies, giving shape and density to an intention, a morphic field, a spirit, or a target (human or non-human). This is grounded in sympathetic magic: the belief that actions performed upon the representation directly affect its referent. Effigies make the immaterial tangible, localizing and concentrating energy for magical working, ritual work, and mediumship (hint, this is a key to good psychic readings!).