Spellcasting

MAGICK

The word "Magick" came about when Aleister Crowley added the "k" on the end to differentiate the parapsychological form from the stage conjuring type. Many modern occultists use this form of the word "magic" to do just the same.

Magick is what Witches use when they are practicing witchcraft. Everyone can practice witchcraft and use magick, but Witches are the ones that know how. For some witches, magick is a way to connect with the Divine. Magick is a way for every Witch to connect with the forces around us and in us, and use them to do their will. But like every craft, there are certain rules and knowledge that must be obtained first.

BELIEF

The most important part of working magick successfully, is believing in it. The brain is a very powerful organ, more so than anybody really knows, and using it is the biggest part of practicing magick. If a Witch doesn't believe in what she's doing, than her magick will not be successful. There is no room for doubts or skepticism in magick. You must truly believe in your spellwork, or no matter how many spirits you invoke, no matter what words you say or how you say them, your spellwork will not be successful. Belief is the key to successful magick.

ENERGY

Energy is like the fuel source of magick. Without energy, your magick has no power. In fact, without energy, there is no magick. Energy is the most important part of magick, beside belief. When practicing magick, Witches must use the energy within themselves, within correspondences, within the divinity, within the earth, within literally everything natural. Anything that has life or that comes from the earth, is charged with its own energy source. Witches access this energy and send it out into the Universe to do their will. Accessing and controlling pre-existing energy is all that magick really is. It's simple, but having the knowledge and knowing how to use it is complicated.

AWARENESS

Having all of your senses working at their highest level possible is necessary in magick as well. You can't miss anything. You must do more than simply hear, you have to listen. You can't just look around, you have to see and understand everything around you. Feel the energy in the air and smell the wind. Most important of all, you must have access to your sixth sense, your intuition, third-eye, higher-self. This will be able to pick-up the exchanges of energy all around you. And of course, this will aid your spellwork because having complete awareness means you're taking control of your magick. Without control, your magick will be ineffective and may have consequences you aren't prepared to deal with. Awareness is control.

PREPARATION

The preparation of any kind of spellwork must be done with excellence in mind. You want everything to be planned perfectly. Whether or not your work turns out perfectly doesn't matter so long as you are prepared. When you are first planning spellwork, you put more energy into it by preparing everything you'll need in advance. By preparing in advance, you also have the chance to personalize everything. That means additional energy.

Other than planning, you must also be prepared for any consequences that may occur because of your spellwork. You will have to deal with these consequences, positive or negative. You must always know as many of the possible outcomes as possible. You will never know them all, but you can try and prepare your work so the consequences will be minimal. Sometimes it's just a matter of choosing the right words. Preparation is always important when practicing magick because it may determine how strong your spellwork will be, and what can happen after your spellwork is through.

INTENT

You must know at all times, why you are doing what you're doing. Know your motives. They can be as simple or as complex as you like. But you must have a purpose, an intent, for using magick. This sounds simple, but keeping your intent at the front of your mind can be difficult. Never forget why you're doing what you're doing.

FOCUS

Focus is achieved when you link emotion and intellect together to willfully actualize your desired outcome. It's hard to describe, but saying that it is stillness and silent comes close. When you focus, you do not let your mind or heart act independently. They become one force working for the same outcome. This is hard and takes a lot of practice. But without the focus, your spellwork has not direction. And when there's no direction there is no outcome and lots of unintentional outcomes. Focus, focus, focus.

RULES

As with every craft, there are rules that must be followed when practicing magick. The rules will differ depending upon the individual or the group the individual associates with, but there are still some basics the majority of Witches will agree upon:

- Cast a magick circle in preparation for magick or ritual work.
- Use a divination tool before working magick.
- Always walk clockwise within the magick circle. Be respectful in the circle. Honor the gods and those within the circle. Do not bring your problems into the circle.
- Never attack the innocent. This, of course, ethical. It's really your choice, but I hope you make the right one.
- Try your best to work for the highest good. Who's good, is up to you.
- Do not mess with another person's free will. This is another ethical one. Once again, I hope you make the right choice.
- Never call anything into the circle that you have not researched first. Never call up what you can't put down.

As I mentioned, not everybody will agree with these rules. If you don't like them, at least consider why you don't like them before putting them completely out of mind. There are reasons all rules are practiced.

SUCCESSFUL MAGICK

This is some basic knowledge that will help make your magick successful:

Every action has an equal reaction. This is obviously not a moral law, but a scientific one. There will always be a reaction to your spellwork. Sometimes the consequences are huge. Always think long and hard before doing any kind of magick. You must be prepared to deal with the after-affects.

The longer you practice magick, the more adept you will become. This is an obvious rule. No one starts out perfect at practicing magick. No one is instantly an expert. You must practice over and over again, make mistakes, and learn from them. You will get better and better at your magick.

As best you can, keep your thoughts and actions pure. Try to keep your intentions clear. Don't let emotions or unwanted energy cloud your thoughts or your tools. Try and keep everything cleansed as pure so that your magick will be more accurate.
What you think, you create. Your mind is very powerful. If you think positively, you will create positive energy. If you think negatively, you will create negative energy. Always be careful what you think because you will create it.

What you believe, you manifest. I've mentioned this before, and it's linked to the rule above. Your mind, your belief, in what you're doing is what will ultimately make what you want manifest. You can do anything as long as you believe it.

Magick works better if added to a spiritual foundation. This is not a necessity, but if you anchor your magick to a religious foundation, you will find your magick to be much more powerful than without. When linking magick to belief, you connect yourself with Divinity. Not only will the Divine aid you in your work, but you will feel your magick spiritually as well as mentally and physically. The choice is yours.

Magick does not replace hard work. Magick is never the fix-it-all. If you want something great to happen, you still have to work for it in the normal way. Magick can aid you, but it is not the one and only solution. You can't just do a spell and expect the world to bow at your feet. You have to work for what you want.

FAILED MAGICK

The biggest reason magick sometimes fails, is because you were not able to step away from narrow-mindedness to believe, deep inside, that change is possible. This is, of course, not the only reason magick fails, but like I said, it is the biggest reason. Other reasons may be:

You lost your focus during the spell or ritual. This is why I said focus was important. If you're not focused, your magick will fail. To have focus, you must also be aware, prepared, and know your intent. These are important, and cannot be overlooked. You need to also make sure you are mentally and physicall healthy. These can make you lose your focus as well. Are you afraid you might get what you ask for? Do you think you don't deserve to be successful? Do you have self-esteem problems? If these answers are yes, then you are bound to fail.

You are being to impatient. Magick doesn't work in just the blink of an eye. For change to occur, magick must move freely, without any blocks in the way. Freeing the pathway can take time,sometimes even as much as a year! If you feel it's "taking too long," you can always help out your spellwork by doing it again at intervals, or doing something different with the same intent.

You received your wish, but it was so smooth and so quiet that you didn't realize it. Sometimes the situation changes in a way you hadn't wanted or thought it would. You got your change, but you were just too blind to notice. People often think it was just coincidence. But magick is subtle like that.

Magick that somehow touches groups of people takes longer than magick that is focused on a single item or person. When you energy coming or going to multiple people, your work doesn't have a straight shot to success. It has to change and move through blocks. Just keep working and it will be successful.

Magick cannot replace physical action. Sometimes, it's a lot easier to do things the "normal way." In my experience, magick is rarely needed for anything. Most anything can be done the "normal way" if you try hard enough. Stop being lazy and do some work once in a while.

The magick somehow interferes with your spiritual plan. If you have no spiritual plan, this will not affect your magick. If you do have a spiritual plan though, all the magick you've been doing prior to the failed magick may override it. If you've been working at making your life peaceful and positive, and then you curse someone you're angry at, the spell may not work because your spiritual plan doesn't agree with what you're doing.

All magick strives to create balance; therefore, sometimes a situation has to get worse before it gets better. This is one is pretty self-explanatory. Just keep in mind that your view of the situation may have to change before your work is completed.

Finally, sometimes shit happens. There may be no magickal reason you failed. Deal with it and move on. Try something else.

In conclusion, know that magick has everything to do with knowledge. But simply collecting knowledge isn't going to do you any good. It's the direction of your learning, the application of your knowledge, and understanding what you're doing that is going to make you successful. If you believe and practice, you will be successful. Remember, the key is to believe.