I think you might be confusing atheists with materialists, in a way; I could see how an atheist might not believe in god, but could believe in spirits or the supernatural, but a materialist is a bit of a different thing (though the term materialist isn’t restricted to religion.)
:smack: Silly me. I’ll e-mail you.
Well, basically, yes, though it is something similar to a prayer book. Rituals, invocations, charms, whatever. They can all be your own, or copied from others. It can be instructions, chants, a song, descriptions of movements, diagrams of how to lay out an altar… or just your notes on stuff. It turns out that being hunted by people with pointy sticks and torches makes the tradition fairly loose on structure.
As for what a “spell” is and what “power” it has, that is another debate altogether, but once again, I liken it to praying. In both, you perform ritual meditation to communicate with spirits, with or without the intent to persuade the spirits (or energy, or whatever) to perform some act. Or just listen. It isn’t even like Wiccans put that much more emphasis on the casting of a spell than most religions do in praying… you have altars, incense burning, sacred space, instruments, and clothing in almost every religion on earth. No one thinks twice about the Pope dressed up in a ritually cleansed church leading a chant out of a holy book with incense burners and candles all about, ending the ceremony by invoking and speaking to God or the Holy Spirit and asking him to bless something or other. Same thing.
Misuse of the term “binding”… more like “related.” Or something. Vocabulary was never my strong suit. 
First of all, some people define a difference between “witchcraft” and “ceremonial magic.” They are similar, but not the same thing. Ceremonial magic can be part of witchcraft, but not necessarily.
A “typical” Wiccan ritual usually involves… hm, lets see. A bit of preparation throughout the day, which can involve a special diet or fasting, sometimes meditation or cleansing (spiritual or otherwise. Some people like to take a bath with various hippie-ish things added). Getting down to the ceremony, you generally draw a “magic circle”… it can be literal or physical, big or small, whatever you want, really. It is aligned at the cardinal points (North, east, south, west), which are marked with candles, idols, people, or whatever you wish. You must sweep it clear of bad energy (you can either use a broom or just make a sweeping motion with your hand in the air), and walk the edge of the circle, drawing the energy and basically visualizing it as a sphere extending up above you and below. If you or anyone else wants to come in or out, you have to cut a doorway in it using the athame (ritual knife - never used for cutting anything but energy) or just your hand, envisioning it as a door. Inside the circle, you have your altar and supplies… and then you can really do whatever you like. Most often, people arrange the altar in specific ways, with idols of their gods, colored candles, incense, etc layed out. You can just meditate, sitting there and chanting softly, or sing, or dance, or do whatever you feel like… obviously, from here we branch into the more dedicated rituals (invoking/evoking, communicating, casting spells, and the like). When you are done, you dismiss any spirits you evoked (don’t want 'em running around :-), thank the goddess/god/gods, close the circle, and clean up.
Obviously, there is a lot of variety here. You can cast a quick circle on the fly, or when you feel in danger. It has (alleged, you would say) protective qualities. But it isn’t a magic shield. It is mental and emotional, I would say. You can throw out a quick circle for a quick spell, without an altar and all that. It is just the practice.
“Magic missile” is a very based Dungeons and Dragons spell. It is used to refer to the misconceptions of magic as shooting flames from your fingertips, which is just plain asinine.
Most magic is about self-improvement, actually. Much like prayer, only taking more personal responsibility. Something like, oh, taking a waxing (increasing) moon and casting a circle to cast a spell on, oh, meeting new people, or crops growing. More specifically, something increasing. You’d do your chant, maybe feel the energies, and feel better about yourself, generally. Or you could take a waning moon and cast a spell to clear yourself of angry thoughts at someone you care about. Meditate on it and let your mind drift off.
Some people insist on things like casting spells to make money. That is their choice, really.
I think the oddest “magic” I’ve done was with a cat. No, seriously. There was a stray little cat hanging out in our backyard. I’m not a cat lover, but over the course of a few weeks I would just stand there and stare at him and concentrate. Eventually he let me sit up next to him and he’d just stare back at me. That can be considered a kind of sympathetic magic, opening up a flow of emotion. I won’t walk about saying that I am psychic and created a link to read the cat’s mind, but maybe I activated something in my mind. Either way, it was an odd, but nice, feeling. Not a “Meow mix meow mix please deliver” thought, but more of just soaking in the world. It is similar to divining magic done in mirrors or shallow bowls of water. You stare and drift. Your subconcious mind just kicks in after a while, and you enter some bizarre stuff.
In general, that is more like it.
There are some who don’t have a problem with so-called “black magic,” which is basically casting a spell that can be harmful. Some people view this as sometimes necessary. Most view it as wrong. None sacrifice cats. :-p
Sure, it can. Some people use illegal substances to heighten the experience. Witchcraft has always involved a lot of herbs and the like. But there is a fundamental differfence between being high or in an altered state of mind, and having a spiritual high. It is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it… But there is more to all religion than the tingly feeling you get for a few hours… it is the tingly feeling you get all your life, what you become aware of, and how you behave and interact with other people. A high is about feeling good, and you come down from it, often feeling worse than when you started. A religious ceremony stays with you. You can maybe remember how a high felt, or fun at a concert, but you won’t feel it smiling down on you a month later.
There are a lot of complicated concepts going on behind all of this… it isn’t about the highs and lows, it is a lifestyle. There are moral complications and debates. What is the true difference between unconditional love and perfect love?
To quote Dorothy Morrison, “The Craft is accepting, generous, and loving. It’s gentle, unobtrusive, and supportive. It’s an ethical way of life that, once embraced, brings immeasurable joy and wonder to everyday living. Simply put, the Craft is a serious religion.”
That does not mean that every practitioner must follow it as a serious religion. Like I said, I do not follow Wicca myself, though I borrow from it some and share with it some. You can be an atheist all you want. You can be completely serious about it, or lighthearted with it. As I said before, the goddess/god enjoy laughing at us. The focus of the religion in modern times is on feeling good about life.
Let me note that I’m not trying to convince anyone to try it… that would be the last thing I would do, considering how it can affect people’s lives (eg, when their relatives find out what they are up to :-)… that is a personal choice. But as someone who has looked at every religion I have come across, knowledge can only be power.
I thought everyone knew this. If she weighs the same as a duck, she’s a witch.
Wow. That’s not really a nitpick. “an” meaning “if” versus "an’ " meaning “and” makes a huge difference in the meaning. It didn’t make any sense to me before.
OK, when in doubt, look in a dictionary. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary has “an” and "an’ " as equal variants of the same word, with current meaning of “and” and archaic meaning of “if”. On a whim, I looked up “and”, and it has an obsolete meaning of “if”. So "an’ " makes sense, with the apostophe for the dropped “d”.
But knowing it means “if” and not “and” is still really important. [/etymology lesson]