Question! PLEASE HElP!

[wanna_blessed_be]

Hey guys! My question is.......does magick really work for u? What kinda spells have you done that worked? And what am I doing wrong for spells not to work for me? I'd love to no everyones opinions! Another question is....I cant fit my altar inside my circle, but it can fit right outside it! What should I do? SO many questions!
Thanx!

[Rain Gnosis]

does magick really work for u?

Yes.


What kinda spells have you done that worked?

Healing spells, prosperity spells, justice spells, etc.


And what am I doing wrong for spells not to work for me?

My guess is, from your first question here, that you don't believe they do. Magic works because one believes it does. If you don't believe in it, it won't work. There are other possible reasons - do you know how to ground and center effectively? Can you meditate and visualize well? Are you good at raising energy? What items did you use, how did you choose them? Was it something you really needed? Did you stay focused?

Sometimes there's the fact that things just aren't supposed to happen a certain way at times. I did a job finding spell that didn't work because I ended up going to college! The spell didn't work because it wasn't the time for me to find a job. If your spell didn't work, consider what you used and your technique, and that maybe it just isn't meant to happen.


I cant fit my altar inside my circle, but it can fit right outside it! What should I do?

Cast your circle such that the altar is within it? Where you cast your circle is up to you.

[Sowelu]

[QUOTE=wanna_blessed_be] And what am I doing wrong for spells not to work for me? /QUOTE]

I don't know what it is you're doing wrong, but the results can take some time.:)

[DebLipp]

Hey guys! My question is.......does magick really work for u? What kinda spells have you done that worked? And what am I doing wrong for spells not to work for me? I'd love to no everyones opinions!
Any kind of spell that is based in reality can work, meaning I can't fly or raise the dead. I have successfully performed healings, found a home, found a missing person, gotten a job, and yes, gotten laid, among many other spells performed over the past 22 years.

Why your magic isn't working is impossible to tell from here. Rain Gnosis has some very good thoughts. You need to study, not spell "recipe" books, but books on the principals of magic and how to do it.


Another question is....I cant fit my altar inside my circle, but it can fit right outside it! What should I do? SO many questions!
I can't for the life of me imagine how this is possible. Why can't your altar fit inside your circle? Why are you casting circles that don't fit your altar?

[Demeter]

Does magic work for me? Sometimes. Sometimes I don't think I push hard enough, and sometimes I'm just up against something that isn't destined to be changed. But the times it works, it works so well, you'll know it immediately. And the more you practice, the better you will get at it.

About the altar ... are you just casting itty bitty circles that have just enough room for you to stand in, or what? The traditional circle has a nine-foot diameter, that should be plenty to fit an altar. Usually I cast to the walls of the room I'm in, creating "square" circles and avoiding the question of what's in/out of circle entirely.

[kblackthorne]

Usually I cast to the walls of the room I'm in, creating "square" circles and avoiding the question of what's in/out of circle entirely.

Call me weird: I like having an area of the room outside my circle. ~shrugs~ I use it as a kind of "staging area" where I leave behind anything I want to use, but don't want to bring into the circle with me. (Like tongs to hold the charcoal in as I'm lighting it, if I'm using loose incense. They don't exactly belong on the altar, after all!)


I cant fit my altar inside my circle

Why, pray tell, do you feel the need to create an altar so huge it will not fit inside the space available? And why do you feel the need to cast a circle too small to hold it? What on earth have you got on your altar that is taking up so much room?? Whatever it is, get rid of it. It's obviously hindering and not helping.

It sound seriously like you need to get back to the basics: Grounding, centering, relaxation, meditation, visualization, energy-work. (In that order.) Fewer outside props, more discipline.

[Muireannach]

I think I'm the only one here who isn't into magic lol

[Calzaer]

Yes, magic works for me (depending on how you define 'magic' as always), lots of spells work for me, without more details I don't think anyone could tell you what you're doing wrong, and circles don't always exactly have to be circles; we're pagans, not geometric mathematicians. Although ceremonial magicians are close.

That cover it? Did I miss anything?

Hook on phonics worked for u!
Also, please donate to the campaign to end ellipsis abuse

[DarkSidhe]

Ditto to everyone else, with just the addition that circles can be cast through objects. I have more room now, but one of my old apartments was so small, I couldn't avoid only having half a dresser included. I also don't think that anyone mentioned that you do not have to 'draw' a circle literally, and that the circle is more or less a sphere when completed, and so goes through the floor as well.

[wanna_blessed_be]

thanx guys so much!

[Equinox]

Hi-

Different Pagans see magic differently. For me, I see spells simply as ways to motivate yourself. I don’t see them as having any actual, physical effect on the outside world. For instance, if I had a job interview tomorrow, I might do a spell to help with success in the job interview. After casting the spell, I’ll be more confidant, and will do better because I come across as more confident. I see Christian prayer in the same way. I’ve written more about my view of Paganism in general on this page:

http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~leta/TREATISE/tjchap8.htm

Others see spells as actually changing the fabric of the universe. Though I don’t see spells that way, I respect their belief because they respect mine. That’s the nice thing about this forum, we have a lot of different views, but still get along.

-Equinox

“Let us listen to our own prayers, it is we who will make them real.” (sorry I forgot the source for this quote)

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

I think I'm the only one here who isn't into magic lol

Nope, I'm not a magic practicioner either Muireannach. Personally I don't see any need to go about messing with the energy of the universe. Anything that can be accomplished magically can be be accomplished mundanely. For instance if you cast a job spell and you don't bother to do the mundane legwork (polish your resume, send it out to lots of people/companies, work on your interview skills) then all the magic in the world isn't going to help you. And in my mind if you're going to be doing all the mundane stuff that really is what gets you the job, what exactly is the purpose of doing the magical stuff, except maybe to work on your psyche.

So, to answer wanna-blessed-be, magic may not be working for you for a couple of reasons. One, as was previously mentioned, being because you don't have confidence in it's ability to manifest your desire. And two, which hasn't been mentioned, you're not doing all the non-magical work that has to go along with it. Magic can't do for you what you aren't willing to do for yourself. Say you have a big test that you need to pass or you'll fail your class, no matter how many spells you cast, if you don't study you don't pass.

As for you alter question, I think that's already been answered. Just cast a bigger circle.

~Saoirse Aiyana

[Ben Trismegistus]

Nope, I'm not a magic practicioner either Muireannach. Personally I don't see any need to go about messing with the energy of the universe. Anything that can be accomplished magically can be be accomplished mundanely. For instance if you cast a job spell and you don't bother to do the mundane legwork (polish your resume, send it out to lots of people/companies, work on your interview skills) then all the magic in the world isn't going to help you. And in my mind if you're going to be doing all the mundane stuff that really is what gets you the job, what exactly is the purpose of doing the magical stuff, except maybe to work on your psyche.
Well, to paraphrase an old Christian saying, "God helps those who help themselves." Working any sort of magic without doing your own legwork is doomed to failure. You can't do a love spell and then sit in your house in sweatpants waiting for someone to call. You can't do a job spell and then not apply for any jobs. You can't do a prosperity spell, and then not do anything to curb your spending habits or stick to a budget. You can't do a fertility spell, and then not f... well you get the picture.

In my opinion, spells are very useful, for a number of reasons. As Equinox says, magic is a way to focus your psyche on your intentions. But I also believe that it's a way to alert the energy around to the fact that you're looking for a particular outcome. Everything is interconnected, after all, and if you're doing everything you can mundanely, while also giving a shout out to the energies which intersect your life, you've got a fair shot of achieving your goals.

Being a member of coven where two fertility spells over the past year resulted in FOUR babies, I absolutely believe that magic works.

[Knight]

wanna-blessed-be, that is my favorite Buffy quote:

Willow: They're just a bunch of wanna-blessed-bes!

[DebLipp]

Being a member of coven where two fertility spells over the past year resulted in FOUR babies, I absolutely believe that magic works.
My coven (or Outer Court, I forget) did this spell one time. A friend of the group was seeking fertility treatment, she was going the route of having the eggs fertilized and then implanted. The trouble is getting the eggs to take, and it wasn't working. We charged up the ol' magic and you know how many fertilized eggs she ended up with? 13! Teehe. She ended up with twins and is very happy.

[Aidron]

You must understand that for the magic anyone works it must be supported by the practioner's faith. Their faith is what will hold it together and send it on its course. I am not speaking of faith in deitis, angels, faeries, unicorns or what have you, but a faith in yourself and that magic truly does exist, as it is all around us.

Magic does work for me, for I believe in myself and in the magic that surrounds me. I realize that magic has endless potential with enough skill, practice, and determination. I've had amazing successes and spectacular failures. We will all fail from time to time, that is life, not magic, but life. If we always succeeded we would not need to even try, for it simply 'would be' without effort.

Your magic may not work because your faith is not strong enough. Spend time meditating and learning to believe in yourself, as well as the energies around you. You could not be skilled enough for what you were working, in which case, keep practicing and remain determined. You may have chosen tools and components that worked against you. For example, if you were working a spell to increase your own passion for life and chose amethyst, it may have fizzled simply because amethyst does not coorelate with the type of energies you are working. Also, when you first begin (and I have no idea if you are new to the craft) it can take awhile to find your own success. When I first began I had astonishing success with my first spell. Then, for six months I had nothing but failures. I unleashed something that had been lying quietly in me for so long (hence the first success), but then I needed to learn how to focus it.

What type of spells and magic have I worked? Many kinds. Protection, self-love, beauty, weather alterations, prosperity, communication, locating lost objects, slowing down time when I was running late, binding and banishings, luck, and so forth. Magic is endless.

[Ben Trismegistus]

My coven (or Outer Court, I forget) did this spell one time. A friend of the group was seeking fertility treatment, she was going the route of having the eggs fertilized and then implanted. The trouble is getting the eggs to take, and it wasn't working. We charged up the ol' magic and you know how many fertilized eggs she ended up with? 13! Teehe. She ended up with twins and is very happy.
Heh - be careful what you wish for, right?

We're planning another round of fertility rituals (more coven members want to get pregnant), and I'm thinking that my wife should either not attend, or wear an iron chastity belt -- can't be too careful! I sure as heck can't deal with TWO babies right now!

[dr_zeus440]

magic is strange in the way that there are no rules unless you think there are, that's pretty much all i can say. it can range from degrees of formality that rival some casino security systems in intricacy, right down to standing upright in the shower saying "this person will come to my picnic today". can be used for things like...inviting people to picnics right upto causing massive cataclysmic universal damage(just coz its never been done before, we think, doesnt make it impossible...it just makes it hiiiighly unlikely). as for spells ive tried and succeeded....if i could remember, youd have a nice list there. anything and everything.

theres no magic formula to make your magic work, no-one can definitively say 'you havent got enough faith' or 'youre working with the wrong pantheon' or 'your Mo-Jo needs recharging biannually in the Extra Cool Super Happy Springs What Recharge Your Mo-Jo'. who knows. just keep trying and evaluate yourself (hey, even if it doesnt help your magic, you'll be a better person for it) and yeah...have fun, and if you break it, you buy it.