Write any spell for anything (beginner's edition)

This is a general overview of the technique I've been using for years. YMMV.

1, Write down your spell goal somewhere. This shouldn't be worked over into a perfect statement of intent. Just keep it on hand to keep yourself focused on the goal.

2 a. Make a short list of what materials you have on hand. Such as:

If making a list of ingredients isn't working for you, try this method instead:

2 b. Make a list of the kinds of spellcasting you're familiar with or comfortable trying out, such as:

Once you find a couple of methods that seem likely candidates for you, go back to 2a and look for anything that would supplement your chosen styles of spellcasting.

Your likely candidates are styles of spellwork you're comfortable/familiar with, for which you also have available ingredients and items needed to complete the working.

3. Settle on a pool of ingredients - some research may be required.

Suppose your spellcasting goal is to find an ideal room mate. You are probably not going to find ingredients that correspond with great room mate.

Sometimes, breaking down a spell goal into its composite parts is necessary in order to find supportive correspondences. What things make a room mate great? Maybe for you, that means a lot of peace and calm - and there are a lot of things out there which correspond with peace and calm.

This is also where you might need to sit down and do some good ol Googling, or reference your books and notes.

You don't need to choose your final ingredients or components at this time.The goal is to just get to a place where we have our methodology of spellcasting (is it a candle spell? a petition? etc) and a pool of components we can start focusing on.

For me, step 3 has a lot of back-and-forth. I may realize that none of my kitchen spices support what I want, or that I don't have the right colored thread to do knot magic with.

Sometimes, I have to go back to the drawing board and say, "okay, I wanted to do a lavender candle spell to draw in a peaceful room mate - now I think I'm going to have to make a messenger thoughtform to stuff inside of a Mercury-themed sachet."

For me, it is much more important to think outside the box and build a stable spell using really supportive correspondences, than to try and make unsupportive correspondences match a spell concept that isn't panning out.

4 a. In Step 1, we chose a general spell goal. Now that we're getting a grasp on methodology and components, we can fine-tune our intent to match what materials we have on hand.

A lavender candle spell for a good room mate might have the intent,

sweetest herb, calming vibes, let no thot be at my side; wash away those unwanted guests, let my new room mate only be the best.

A messenger thoughtform housed inside of a Mercurial vessel might have the intent,

racing steed, search far and wide, bring the best one to my side: a room mate as described within, perfect down to my smallest whim.

(inside the sachet, of course, is a small petition describing the desired qualities of the room mate).

At this time in my practice I'm really not a fan of very straightforward present-tense "I HAVE A GOOD ROOM MATE" statements of intent.

After all, if an intent is a spell ingredient, it isn't blindly interchangeable 😌

4 b. This is also now the time to choose some specifics of how you want to work over the spell and have it manifest.

Do you have timing considerations? Maybe my racing steed thoughtform takes 3 months to find the room mate I want, causing a stupid chain of events where I get a shitty room mate and they're evicted to make room for the new one.

I find that many spells work better if they are not set-and-forget. Container spells may be shaken or interacted with on a regular basis, for example. Candle spells can be burned a little each day instead of all at once. Servitors can be spoken to, encouraged, and fed on a daily basis.

How often do you want to interact with your spell? How do you want it to manifest?

Do you want to receive signs or omens that your spell is manifesting? What should they be?

This is the time to think about those things.

4 c. Ensure that all the components you've chosen, and your intent, match the exact outcomes you desire.

For example, a very heavily earthen spell with tons of earthy and Saturnine energies (lead, many stones, equilateral crosses, symbols of earth) isn't going to go fast - I mean, I don't believe it will. These components are a bad combination with a spell which must manifest rapidly. Just because something corresponds with your goals doesn't mean it's going to correspond with your specific, spell-attuned intent.

Do you need the spell to move quickly? Inclusion of a single candle to "light the way" during your spell will do things like include fiery energies which encourage rapid speed and movement towards manifestation. Or, things like symbols and squares of Mercury, or representations of fast-moving animals, will help.

Do you need a spirit or god to hear your petition? If you can't bring them into your spellcasting space, incense is said to deliver prayers to the otherworld.

And so on :)

5. Drop the extras. The spell is ready when there is nothing left to exclude.

At this point in the process, I hope to have a few things:

Now, I begin looking over things and dropping what doesn't help.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a spell minimalist. I might stuff a petition card full of every magical symbol that will fit in it. I might decide that yes, I do need 7 herbs with very similar correspondences and ask them all to do the exact same thing.

However, here are some things to keep an eye on:

Ingredients that split spell focus. If your intent has too many conjunctions, it might be time to split some things off and make them into their own spell.

Time and energy cost - I'm one of those people who believe you have to work over every single ingredient - awaken it or raise power into it - and individually petition every ingredient to do something specific.

And that takes time and energy. A spell with 9 unawakened, mundane ingredients may easily take over an hour to cast because I have to essentially go through and enchant every single ingredient before it's ready, and leave me so worn out that the rest of the spell might have to be postponed.

If I've been a clever bean and enchanted a lot of my stuff ahead of time, that's less of a problem. But I expect most of us are not that prepared. So it may actually be a huge help to drop out very similar correspondences, especially if you don't know them well and don't know exactly what they're adding.

6. Finalize the spell based on the vibes

I like to write a clean copy of the spell (as at that point I've scribbled through a few pages of notes, at least) and see how it feels to me. I like to check my body for emotions. Does this spell tickle my tummy? Does it tingle the soles of my feet? Does it blossom a pit of dread into my chest?

How I feel about it is very important to me. I also double-check that my final statement of intent is still in-line with my original goal I laid out in Step 1. Sometimes I can be like a hound dog chasing down an amazing spell, until I realized I've caught a fox instead of a rabbit.

If the spell feels good, if it's what I want and need, and if the details (like manifestation timeline) are taken care of, I call it good and get to casting :)