spells and more questions.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 10 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

pozt	10 Dec 2002
1. I was wondering, why do some spells work (e.g. purchasing spell kits) but some don't (using free spells around the 'net). I thought it was INTENTION and VISUALISATION that really matters. 2. Also, if I wanted to make some Separation Powder, but the ingredients listed in the book I saw were almost impossible to get (or they had weird names). What's the best combination of ingredients to make Separation Powder? 3. I'd like to share sth with every1: many years ago I had an argument with my boyfriend at the time, and I used a spell to make him call back (without doing a circle of protection.). He DID call back that very night...but not to make up - but break up! eeekk!!! Never do spells without a COP. But anyway, since HK is a cramped place and so no room for all those fancy altar stuff, what's the best thing to do to get a COP? Must we have all those fancy stuff we read about all the time? :)

Sulis	10 Dec 2002
Hi Pozt [quote]Originally posted by pozt [b]1. I was wondering, why do some spells work (e.g. purchasing spell kits) but some don't (using free spells around the 'net). I thought it was INTENTION and VISUALISATION that really matters. [quote] It is the intention and visualisation which is important. Perhaps some spells which you have bought in kit form have worked because your intention was strong. I have never used spell kits but I have used spells from the internet. I usually find that such spells work best if you put a bit of your own energy into them and adapt them to suit your own purpose. [quote]2. Also, if I wanted to make some Separation Powder, but the ingredients listed in the book I saw were almost impossible to get (or they had weird names). What's the best combination of ingredients to make Separation Powder?[quote] Don`t know which ingredients you mean but you could try using ingredients with the same planetary correspondences to the ones you can`t get hold of. [quote]Never do spells without a COP. But anyway, since HK is a cramped place and so no room for all those fancy altar stuff, what's the best thing to do to get a COP? Must we have all those fancy stuff we read about all the time?[quote] You don`t need any fancy tools to cast a circle or to do magical work. The only things that the tools do is to focus your intent. If you have no room to cast a formal circle but you feel as if you need one raise energy and visualise golden or white light radiating from yur body or from your finger, form this light into a protective circle and then call in the elements to strenghten and balance the circle. I hardly ever cast a full magic circle but I do like to work inside a visualised one. Hope that`s helped. Love and light Crystalmynx xx

destinyawaitsme	10 Dec 2002
Well, first off, in my experience, some of the best spells are the ones you make yourself. Do some research, soul searching, reading, etc. (Figure out color, oil, herb correspondences, what day, what time). Basically, figure out what you want to accomplish. Then ask yourself: Is this what I need? Is there a better alternative? Are there physical steps I can take without magical intervention? I find that if you ask yourself these kinds of questions you might just figure out a better way (sometimes you just need to simply communicate to another person) to solve your problem. I also agree with crystalmynx. You really don't need all the fancy tools for spells to work. I fully believe that we can will things to us, just by thinking about them or worrying. Tools are used for symbolism. They help you visualize and channel energy towards your goal, but are never a requirement. All you need is you. About your experience with your ex, I don't think that has to do with an absence of a circle of protection. It might have more to do with your intentions. Anytime you cast a spell to make someone do something that they aren't planning on doing with their own free will, you are asking for trouble. Maybe he was still angry with you and by you inadvertantly causing him to call you, may have caused him to do something that he wouldn't have done if given time to cool off and come to you on his own terms. THis is just one of the reasons why you should think long and hard about using magic. (Don't get me wrong, magic is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but it can also have terrible consequences when not used correctly) Asking for protection or visualizing white light is also a good idea. Just make sure while you are doing spell work that your intentions are for the better of the whole...not just what you want at the moment. Or at least that's what I've learned. Love and Light

Kiama	11 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by pozt 1. I was wondering, why do some spells work (e.g. purchasing spell kits) but some don't (using free spells around the 'net). I thought it was INTENTION and VISUALISATION that really matters. You're correct, and I don't think it was the s[pell itself that didn't work, but your concentration or visualisation... maybe it just wasn't meant to work? magick is no different to mundane things. you can intend to get into that university all you want, you can visualise it all you want, and you can try your hardest to get the grades to get in there, but it doesn't mean you're gonna get in. sometimes, things just aren't supposed to happen, and there are other things in the way of you getting the results you want from a spell. [quote]2. Also, if I wanted to make some Separation Powder, but the ingredients listed in the book I saw were almost impossible to get (or they had weird names). What's the best combination of ingredients to make Separation Powder? [/quote] I'd get things thrown at me by some Wiccans I know for suggesting this, (Not on Aeclectic but IRL!) but who needs a silly powder, when you have the most powrful tool ever right inside your own body?! You have your heatr, you have your mind, you have your desies. The powder would only be a pointless addition to remind your mind what it's supposed ot be doing, but if you've got a strong enough will, you can remind your own mind without having to have any powder. Firstly, with all due respect, I disagree personally that we should never do spells without a Circle. When it comes to huge things that ritual magicians and hemeticists do, such as Enochian, etc, then yes, but with spells that we do only to gain results in the external world, I find there is no difference betwene them and normal everyday actions... For instance, we could say that a spell for good grades is the same as me studying hard for them. Magick can be defined as the 'focus of the will and energy to acheive a desire or goal'. If this is true, then EVERY action is a magickal action. The spell itself is only a mnemonic device aimed at reminging you every now and then to stay on track! ;) hen we do a spell, we are focussing our will and enrgy to get something we want. When we... Study for a test, work hard at a relationship, tug at the shared duvet in hte midle of the night with a parter, we are doing the same. Based on this, I personally do not think a Circle is necessary for spells. Maybe the reason the boyfriend called to break up with you instead of make up was cuz it was gonna happen, whether the spell was done in a Circle or not. (See my first point). Secondly, based on all this, I woulkd say you don't need any of the fancy stuff you read about in books. I have been peforming very successful magick using only my mind and soul in boht the mundane and spiritual realms for many many years, and i haven't a clue what to do witha Cauldron or Pen of Art! I don't even know how to burn block incense! Don't worry about tools: They are not the important thing. The magick and energy is not in them, its all in YOU! :D The only tools you will ever need are the things inside yourself. :D:D:D Kiama PS- This is all personal opinion based on what I consider magick is, and how I think magick works. Nobody has to accept it, and the use of tools is still fun! ;)

Laurel	11 Dec 2002
{Note- I am not discussing the ethics of what one *should* or *should not do* re spellcraft, just the mechanics. Some of what I am describing -is- against my personal ethics; nevertheless it all illustrates the mechanics involved just fine, which is the point.} 1. Why Some Spells Don't Work. Intention and Visualization are incomplete with both Belief and Proper Scope. If you are using virtually the same spell for the same purpose but you discover it only "works" if you buy it rather than create it yourself or borrow it from the Internet, the problem is belief-based. There's something in your consciousness about the exchange of money that empowers the spell. If you are casting a spell on someone besides yourself (to harm or help) and it doesn't work, the problem might be Timing (have you given the spell long enough time to influence the environment), Belief, or more likely, Scope. Magic is a tool and not a rule-- casting a love spell on someone if they are already in love with someone else is an exercise in futility because you are attempting to change something beyond yourself and your immediate environment. Odds for failure are high. On the other hand, if you cast a love spell, put on your most arrousing clothing and ~then~ get this other person drunk at a party and attempt to seduce them... chances for success have gone way up, especially because the love spell will heighten your own self-confidence. The spell was part of the overall action, not the end-all and be-all of getting what you want. 2. Making Magical "Substitutions" So you want Separation powder to -do- something. Every component in a spell is there because its either practical or symbolic. A Separation powder is used in a ritual to cause two other people to break up by causing animosity, right? And to make it lets say you the written paper said you needed Vetivert, Sandlewort, and Chili Powder, Cinnamon, and Black Pepper. You have no clue what Vetivert is and can't buy Sandlewort at the local grocery. The magic -isn't- in any of these ingredients. All these ingredients have some kind of symbolic correspondence with the idea of causing animosity. Those last three ingredients are all spicy! A quick google search can tell you what Vetivert is and look, it has a bitter smell and can be used as a muscle relaxant or to cure acne. How about substituting some Tiger Balm or if this person you are trying to break up has been a real pain in the ass- Ben Gay. You are making the magic. As long as you have the self-confidence to trust yourself in being able to create sympathetic correspondences, you can get really creative in making those powders and they will work. 3. Circles of Protection Number one- what are you protecting yourself ~from~? If you don't know, no COP will help you. If the answer is Satan, bad energy, karmic fallout from going around trying to mess around in other people's happiness and you believe that a COP ~will~ save you from these things... then using one is obvious and you'll have to move furniture around to make the space. A circle with a 3 foot circumference, however, is suffice. If the answer is you don't believe that there's anything to be protected from, and a circle of protection doesn't have any other additional purpose to it than to "protect" you... then making them is someone else's dogma and not important to you. However, if you are afraid that something bad might happen to you if you fail to provide a good COP, then inevitably, it will. Don't experiment unless you are sure and willing to take personal responsibility for the outcome. 4. Fancy Ritual Stuff A formal ritual environment facilitates the departure from one state of consciousness to another. It also increases your self-confidence and influences your beliefs and attitudes. However, the ritual chamber does not make the magic. You make the magic. If you are capable of making the magic standing naked alone in the dark or under an oak tree in the back yard embracing the sunlight or ~whatever~ then the magic will work. Laurel

pozt	12 Dec 2002
thanks laurel, and everyone else for their informative messages. I probably wouldn't do it in the end, but I was pretty curious about this kind of stuff, since there's only ONE new age shop in HK, and any available books make everything seem so complicated. This forum really educated me a lot. laurel, are u a witch? u seem to be very experienced!!!

Laurel	12 Dec 2002
I was born into a "New Age" Christian family, child of two social workers, one of whom was an Angel-worshipping specialist in Satanic Ritual Abuse in Chemical Dependency patients. Crystal-healing, affirmations, so on were part of my life since I was six years old. At age 11, I became a self-initiated Wiccan and later reaffirmed my vows with Starhawk while getting arrested with her at a Nevada Yucca Mountain protest :) I started reading tarot obsessively at age 16. At age 24ish, I devoted myself to the Kabbalah and both Jewish and Christian mysticism as a Unitarian Universalist. I moved from there into BOTA and the Golden Dawn. and then this year, at age 33 became a member of the Temple of Set, an elitist LHP initiatory religious organization that was originally a breakaway from the Church of Satan. So technically I'm a Setian or LHP or black magician. I don't sacrifice babies or sprawl out naked on any inverted cross altars during some oddball Black Mass, but I'm that horror of horrors to many young Wiccans- a practioner of the real "black Arts" which are quite truthfully as ethical as anything else out there, but not everyone's cup o'tea. I read and listen and learn and experiment with just about ~everything~ and am starting to lay things out in writing to try and help those who where I was ten or twenty years ago, because I made some dreadful mistakes along the way. :P Laurel

pozt	12 Dec 2002
wow...that's a pretty interesting "CV you've got there!"

The Enchanter	13 Dec 2002
Spells only work if: 1. You believe 2. It is best arranged so it fits your needs 3. You take your mind off the spell (better chances anyway) Some spells might be too ahead of your leage. You might not be powerful enough or expierenced enough to make the spell work. Start small and aim big! Good luck!

The spells and more questions. thread was originally posted on 10 Dec 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.