A New Year's Chord Cutting

Preface

Chord cuttings are a very popular form of magic, but are also often misconstrued. Many view chord cuttings as dangerous, as they sever subtle ties between two targets. Many believe that it is the severing of etheric ties between people, and while that can be a use, I find that the format is far more versatile. Chord cuttings are one of my favorite New Year's magics, as it allows you to make very intentional changes, quickly and swiftly. Energy that is very much needed for the New Year. Whenever we make these intense severances, we need to invoke, equally as strong, the things we desire to grow and cultivate in the coming year. Therefore, this work will be two-fold.

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Materials

There are a lot of popular methods of doing chord cuttings, so here's a way that I do mine. I have some more idiosyncratic renditions when I work with specific spirits. A more specific spell will be given at the end of this article. The basic materials are:

• Thread, string or yarn (I like red or black, but color is up to you)

• Paper and pen/cil, any kind (again I like red and black ink)

• Scissors OR a white/etc. candle

Scissors are totally fine as a severing tool, but I personally like the drama of fire.

Please be fire safe if you opt to burn your chord!​

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The Chord Cutting​

Write out, over the course of the day, all of the things you want to leave behind in the Old Year. Think about all the domains of life (Romance, Friendships, Finances, Work, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Physical Health, Activities, Vices, Habits, Thought Patterns, etc.) and what the biggest things from each are that you need the most help overcoming, and then work in some of the smaller, but still important to remove, aspects are. Write all of these down, and have them prepared about an hour and a half before Midnight on New Year's Eve. Take your time with this list, and even do divination and talk to your spirits if you're stuck.

At 23:00 or 22:30, wrap the end of the chord to your left ring finger, and the other end around the folded up paper. Be sure to fold the paper away from you! Speak to the paper, and say all the things you remember putting into it, adding in "and all else written and unwritten but kept in my heart" at the end, and then say that by the power of this ritual you are no longer bound to these traits and aspects of self, but are set free and able to do anything you desire to do.

I highly encourage you to do this with even the most difficult aspects of your life. This spell will operate as a catalyst of change, and will work to sever yourself from these things. Tell no one about what you put into it, as this is a deeply personal work. You will still need to put in the effort in the practical world, but you will overcome and surpass them much more easily through this work.

Then, cut or burn the string, calling out that you have severed yourself from the powers of all written upon the paper.

Take the paper/remains of the paper to a crossroads, rushing river, or other appropriate place and dispose of it. I recommend a total reduction to ash (part of why I recommend the candle flame), but you can tear up the paper and toss it to the four quarters of the crossroads. I do not particularly recommend littering, and so if you cannot dispose of the paper in an eco-friendly way, simply toss it a trash can away from your house, or into the toilet. Do whatever you can to send it far away from you, and reduce it all to nothingness.

It holds no power over you, and you hold all power over it.

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Drawing In Blessings

It is often said that when you banish, you must also invoke. This is especially true here. If you do not invoke in the blessings you need and desire for the New Year, then the old traits return easily. It is of utmost importance that you keep up with what you banish as well, and if additional work needs to be done, do not hesitate to do so! I will likely write up a more purgative rite for killing a bad aspect of your life sometime soon.

There are many ways to draw in blessings, and I leave some of this up to personal discretion. Something that is simple enough to do however, is to write out all you wish to attract into your life and read it out to all your major shrines, or to your major spirits. Additionally, you can fix a candle with attraction, victory and success mateira and burn that atop the petition, praying to all your major spirits to engender necessary change.

In my opinion, this should be done around 01:00, at the earliest 00:30; so that the New Year is a bit more solidified, and you are on the other side of the door of the Year. Various gateway gods and spirits, such as Janus and Hekate, may also be invoked to aid in the manifestation of these results.

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Optional: New Year's Bath

Something you can (and perhaps should!) do between 00:00 and 01:00 is a ritual purification bath. I have a particular pact-related bath that I do on New Years, but you can do a simple salt + water bath, with some various cleansing and fortifying herbs added in, under the auspices of your major patrons. I recommend this as it cleanses off all the detritus of the pervious year, and further cleanses and separates you from the chords you have now cut. Lemon is another good ally here, as are rue and rosemary. However you choose to do this bath, let all the water run off you and downwards into the drain. If you don't have a bath tub, it is still possible to perform this! Simply fill up a bowl with water, add your salt and other herbs, let this steep at least three hours, and then pour it over your head after making the necessary prayers/invocations. Always air dry after doing this, and put on clean clothes befitting your needs.

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A Fately Twist: Invoking The Three Fates and Heakte

Hekate is one of my primary patron deities, and so she finds her way into much of the work I do. I wanted to give a more guided example of how to do a chord cutting through her, and the Three Fates. The materials remain the same as before, but the structure adjusts.

Begin with an invocation to the Fates, by Hekate:

Hekate, Hekate, Hekate....

Come to me, Primordial, Titanic, Goddess-Queen!

Lo, the year is waning to its end

Lo, the time for change is rapidly nearing

Behold me, behold my need, behold my desire!

To you, Queen, do I lift my arms, raise my voice and give my trust

To you, Goddess, do I invoke your power, your fately force

And desire of your assistants three

CLOTHO CLOTHO CLOTHO

Weaver of the web, come to me!

By Maskelli Maskello, come to me CLOTHO

LACHESIS LACHESIS LACHESIS

Allotter of time, come to me!

By Phnounkentabaoth Oreobazagra, come to me Lachesis

ATROPOS ATROPOS ATROPOS

Cutter of the thread, come to me!

By Rexichthon Hippochthon, come to me Atropos

Hekate, Hekate, Hekate...

Bring the Fates Three to me, to me, to me!

So mote it be.

Pull the chord and tie it to yourself and the paper as before, saying:

Clotho, the webs you weave for us are not just yours to tell

Clotho, we partake in the stories and myths you know so well

Clotho, let this Fate be mine to tell!

Read out all that was on the paper, and further add to it:

Lachesis, you have seen how long these have plagued me

These woes, these pains

So Lachesis, let them burden me no more

The time has come, the time is now

Lachesis, rid them from my life!

Prepare the scissors, holding them dangerously open over the chord, saying:

And to you, Atropos

Let the threads between us be finally

CUT

Make the cut naturally as you say this.

Quickly, set the paper aflame with fire from a candle, or if you are lucky enough to do so, within a fire pit. Call out in a powerful voice:

BRIMO BRIMO BRIM!

HEKATE HEKATE-BRIMO HEKATE

AZOSTOS AZOSTOS AZOSTOS

BRIMO

Burn, burn, burn all of these away from me, from my life take this strife!

Ungirt, unbound, ungoverned thou art

And so shall it be, so shall it be, so shall it be for

ME

BRIMO BRIMO BRIM!

By my will it shall be

By Pyrepeganyx, I banish these from me

Dispose of the ashes at a crossroads, and leave offerings to Hekate and the Fates.

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Final Notes

This rite is designed to be simple, yet powerful, and power is drawn from its simplicity. While more can be layered on top of it all, I would avoid over complicating the spell, for fear of losing sight of the central goal of it all. It has in the past worked VERY powerfully for me, and while some things were hard to adjust to, ultimately it became worthwhile. Keep your mind focused on who you want to be, and how you want to live in the world, and you can't go wrong.

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❀ Aiden Rhys Blackheart ❀