Good Afternoon,
We are going to discuss spell casting today. But not the specifics of spell casting, more like the ethics of spell casting. It has come to my attention, from talking with magickal people that frequent the shop, that many people read a lot about the magickal world and about spell casting, but do not actually cast any spells!
To this witch, that is akin to reading cookbook after cookbook but never going into the kitchen!! And when asked why? The answers are invariably the same. They do not want to do anything wrong. They do not want to send something out that will return to them and cause problems in their lives. They do not want to piss off the Goddess and the God or any other divine entity. Hmmmmm, tapping finger nails on the desk. Interesting, indeed.
First I would ask "Are you trying or intending to do anything harmful or negative to another?" The answer is always "No! Of course not!" followed with, "I just don't know enough." Well, let me take a few moments to explain. Witches practice witchcraft. Practice. One is never perfect right out of the cauldron! Of course not. One needs to practice AND make mistakes, and practice some more and make more mistakes etc. etc. before one can master anything! That's right, you can only master a thing once you have worked it a good long while. And mistakes are guaranteed. But let's address some concerns:
- Firstly, you will not, actually can not piss off the Gods. Well, I suppose if you really try to do so, and set off to accomplish this, it can be done, in some philosophies. But unless you are trying to disrespect them, you won't do so just by practicing and making a few mistakes. Do you really think the Gods care how you set up your altar? Or if you start your circle in the East or in the North? Do you think they care if you forget to light the candles or ring the bell? Seriously? How petty do you think you Goddess or God is? They are beyond human, and a mistake humans consistently make is that we assume the Gods are subject to the same petty stuff we are. Our Gods DO NOT sit in judgement of us. That's a Westernized Christian concept, for some Christians, not all. You can and will make mistakes and the Gods, like kindly, understanding grandparents, will smile and nod understandingly while you go back and re-do.
- Next, the Karma connection. When someone is worried that 'what they do' will return to them threefold, they first have to be doing something specific. Just casting a circle incorrectly won't return any karmic feedback, because you've not done anything to anyone. For karma to come to you, you must send out specific good or bad, deliberate intentional stuff. Say you cast a spell for love. And you don't visualize, or don't use the correct candle color, or something that just makes the spell difficult to manifest. You know what will happen? Nothing, period. No manifestation. You're not going to create chaos in your life because you forgot to cast a spell properly. There is simply nothing to return back to you. People put so much 'energy' on stuff returning back to them, but realize it has to be concentrated, specific intentional energy that you are sending out. And if it's good and loving to begin with, why, in the name of the Goddess, would it return in a negative way, simply because you forgot a step or two??
By not practicing your spells, by not casting circles you are just simply not living the life of a witch. You are existing on the fringes of a very magickal circle that will welcome you into it, all you have to do is step inside and get to work. And enough of the excuses as to why you can't practice. If you wish to live the life of a witch you will practice, as simple as that. Or be content to sit on the sidelines watching. It's really up to you.
Now that you know how the energies and the karmic thing works, you can feel freed from the restrictions you have imposed upon yourself and start practicing. I st practice casting a circle. You can find previous posts for casting a circle by putting those words in the search box at the top of this page. After you've practiced casting and opening a circle, then you can start practicing casting spells. Only do one spell at a time, focus on one a week to start. Or even one a month. And be sure to journal your work in a notebook, called a Book of Shadows. Put all of your magickal workings in this book. Over time you will accumulate several Books of Shadows, and this will become your magickal library.
Happy Circle and Spell Casting! Write in the comments on how you do, I'd love to hear from you!!
Peace and Happiness
© 2010-2015 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited.
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