Growing up in a family that practised what would now be called the ‘dark side’ of witchcraft was never dull, so over the next few posts I thought I might share a few memories with you on this subject.

Nowadays of course hexing is usually frowned upon, but back in those far off days I don’t think anyone really worried about it all that much (provided they didn’t get caught, of course!) After all, when you want to hex someone, the only non-magical possibilities to achieve the same result will usually involve some sort of criminal activity. If you go out into the street and punch a passer-by, you run a high risk of either being arrested or receiving a black eye. It’s perfectly possible however, to sit at your window and make people fall flat on their face without them even realising who’s doing it.

So although considering other options first may be good advice for most types of magic, people who resort to hexing usually don’t bother with all that hand wringing and soul searching. Or to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw’s famous saying, ‘Them as can, hex, them as can’t, just moralise about it.’

Personally, I never really saw the attraction of constant hexing. Yes, there will always be times when you will be tempted to hex, just as there will always be times when you will be tempted to say something rash (and five minutes later wish you hadn’t). Once I learned to cast spells, hexing was way down my list. It just wasn’t all that interesting compared to all the other things you could do. What was the point?

Unfortunately, the trouble with hexing is that it can be highly addictive. Normally, the better you become at magic, the less you need to do it. But for people with a certain temperament, hexing is easy. You end up hexing people not because you wish to, or even because someone deserves it, but because you can. Once you start, it’s very hard to stop.

Another drawback is that from a magical point of view hexing encourages you into some really bad magical habits. You get lazy. If you get lazy enough you begin to take risks and if you take too many risks, sooner or later you will come a cropper. Just as if you get into the habit of jumping a red traffic light, sooner or later you will have an accident. It’s not about psychic retribution (though that can sometimes play a part) – it’s really just the law of averages. The more risks you take, the more chance there is that one day you’ll wish you hadn’t.

For example, you should never, ever, hex someone when you are in a temper because when your emotions are in turmoil all sensible magical practice goes out of the window. You spell turns into a psychic scattergun, and all sorts of people can be injured in the fall out. You might think this is common sense, but you'd be surprised how often people forget in the heat of the moment.

One witch within my family often hexed others when she was in a foul temper. She never gave herself chance to calm down; she certainly never looked for any kind of compromise. No, she got down to magic while still incandescent with rage. The result unfortunately was that her magic, although accurately directed at her victim (often with very unpleasant results) also tended to hit other people. Sometimes it even injured those closest to her, whom she would never normally have harmed in any way. Truly, in magic revenge is a dish best eaten cold.

Seeking the Green by Tylluan Penry, published soon by Capall Bann. For more info - watch this space!