What if spells radiate in all directions in time, so the reason that it seems like things were destined to work out well even before you cast, is because the spell was working backwards from the point when you cast it.

There's a thing that is often done in some rituals where the light of the fire is imagined as going into all directions to purify ignorance and help all living beings, but by Virtue of casting a circle and raising the elemental portals, you essentially create a microcosm of the macrocosm which essentially means that everything that is, was and has the potential of being is evident in that single space.

By that logic, blockage removal is debugging the macrocosm because there's lag

After a couple of years setting candles aside and fucking around with kerosine lamps and oil lamps (I still gotta make that post...), I think I'm back to candles for a lot of smaller workings.

I like kerosine lamps for a dedicated purpose, like something dedicated to ancestors and lighting it always honors them.

And I like oil lamps (as in, vegetable oil with a home-made wick) as a concept for long-term heavy duty sorcerous purposes, or devotional purposes.

But IMO neither are convenient enough for use in small-time spells or other purposes.

And for hour of burn time I don't think vegetable oil is cheaper than paraffin candles. (I haven't done enough test runs but a couple of initial measurements suggests so)

Lukewarm take: If you want to get good at practical sorcery, you're probably going to have to do a lot of magic you don't need to do, just for the sake of practice

I do not like or support the idea that ~all~ witches are supposed to be spiritual bodybuilders who are ~supposed~ to do daily training drills.

But some people really would like to really practice certain skills related to witchcraft (as in, habitually engage with a skill for the purpose of improvement).

I'm really into sorcery, and every time I bring up the idea that to get good at it you should practice it, I feel like someone always ends up saying, "but I don't need anything."

IMO there is a very unhelpful vibe when it comes to ""practice discourse"" where it is assumed that if you don't need something, then it isn't useful to practice it.

Case in point, cleansing!

A lot of people say that you don't really need to cleanse things, not even spiritual tools; that it's a handy skill to have if you need it, but it's not necessary.

My point isn't whether or not you really need to cleanse things.

My point is the practice that cleansing can bring!

Cleanse a hundred objects, and you have a hundred more interactions with magic under your belt.

Depending on the method of cleansing you're doing, you've enchanted a hundred dishes of salt water, a hundred sticks of incense, said a hundred charms.

You've engaged your willpower and magical mind a hundred times.

You have a hundred more experiences with how working with that energy, or that correspondence, or that charm affects you; how it leaves you feeling; how it leaves the object feeling.

Imagine how effective a charm might begin to be if you use it a hundred times. Imagine the experience you might gain using ten different cleansing methods ten times each.

You've got a lot more experience with objects before and after they've been worked over.

A person who does a hundred cleansings may not begin to develop an innate sense for the spiritual grime that can accumulate in the world around us, but I imagine they'd be a lot more likely to than someone who doesn't cleanse at all.

The thing with magic is that (IMO) you can never just practice one thing at a time. If you practice cleansing, you may also be practicing enchantment, energy work, psychism, petitioning, and so forth (again, depending on your methods).

And when the time comes to cast, idk, a prosperity spell, I would put my money on a guy who has only been cleansing because he had nothing better to do, than someone who hasn't been practicing any magic at all in the same timespan.

It goes for anything. A hundred energized little rocks to change the mood of a room. A hundred bits of string to tie up an annoyance.

Maybe you don't NEED an annoyance tied up.

But if you WANT to practice magic, then what does it matter what the magic is for?

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 :)

On magic as being a chore, and why I think that's fine and probably a helpful way to frame it for a lot of people who want to do practical sorcery

On the topic of wards, have you ever had to dig a drainage ditch so water won't accumulate around your house?

Or, put one of those little gates in a doorway so a new puppy can only stay in one area? Or, have you ever put out ant bait?

Hung up a "no solicitors" sign? Built a fence so the chickens can stay over there, and out of the garden? Built a shade cloth over the garden?

Because when you're building a shade cloth over the garden, you're casting a ward against the sun, right. You're binding the puppy and the chickens so they are constrained to certain areas. You're crafting a spirit trap to redirect the water so it won't harm your foundations. Casting a hex most vile upon the ants.

Etc.

But I really do think that in some conversations, wards and protections get framed in a weird Bonnie and Clyde way, where they're assumed to be only for witches living in the Wild West, having witch wars and doing Risky Magic.

I do enjoy the sinister mysticism that can sometimes surround witchcraft. But sorcerous strategy is a big interest of mine, and I think that a very useful way to arrive at useful strategy is to de-mystify the whole operation.

It's just that we've got these weird labels, like hex, bind, banish, ward, protect, conjure; but when you get down to it, you can just be doing the most mundane stuff with your magic.

I can use a shade cloth to ward the garden against the sun. Then, I can string garlic on a red thread to ward against illness.

I can put up a fence to keep the chickens on that side of the back yard, then hang up a magical no solicitors sign because I'm tired of getting knocks at my door.

This is what gets my goat, sometimes, about people saying magic has to feel all wonderful and beautiful and everything. Yes, I love the experience of being productive with a hammer on an early spring morning, but building a fence is tedious. When it comes down to it, it's still just building a fence. Even if I build it with wax and bits of paper instead of wood and nails.

I feel like there is so much magical housekeeping people could be doing, or would greatly benefit from, that people just don't do because it's wrapped up in these sinister-adjacent terms.

I don't think magic is actually hex/bind/banish/ward/protect/conjure. I really do think magic is a lot more like hammer and nails. Needle and thread. Oven and dough. Etc.

Is it a fast cash spell, or are you just going out to search for the eggs your prosperity hens have already laid?

You can have it either way you like; you can frame going out to get physical eggs from mundane hens as a rapid-manifest prosperity spell. Behold, after I cast a spell of going outside for two minutes, I have manifested five eggs, better than any store could provide.

But taking all the mystical stuff and letting it just be mending holes and baking bread and digging drainage ditches I think is helpful.

All in all, I think demystifying the language we couch practical sorcery in can have two helpful results, which are:

categories of offerings within witchcraft

This has been on my mind a little bit and recent magical shenanigans (magnanigans?) have brought it again to mind so here is a concept that you might make sense for your style of practice (using the relationship with the familiar spirit for examples)!

Basically, we might be calling too many things "offerings" when in reality there could be a variety of discrete functions that need to be fulfilled, and doing one doesn't automatically fulfill them all.

Here are some examples of different things that I think are all lumped into the category of "offerings" even though IMO they aren't even that related:

Devotional and relationship-building offerings, offerings meant to provide metaphysical energy, and offerings meant as gifts.

Devotional and relationship-building offerings may be better reframed as acts of connection.

Example: Making art with your familiar. Meditating with your familiar. Going on a long walk and asking your familiar what it thinks about the landscape.

These acts of connection aren't replaced by simply giving gifts (anyone ever had an absent person in their life that replaced real connection with gift-giving?).

The true "exchange" here is not moving around sorcerous energy, but rather the exchange of a healthy interpersonal relationship.

Offerings meant to provide metaphysical energy can be reframed as feeding or charging.

Example: Offering your familiar a delicious sandwich so it gains the dense, earthly energy required to carry out your will.

As opposed to devotional offerings, these offerings need to contain actual metaphysical energy, because if they don't, the function of the offering remains unfulfilled. Here, a long walk with your familiar is not a suitable offering when they require sorcerous energy in order to work on your behalf.

These offerings may not even be considered "gifts," because they are necessary in order to perform various acts of sorcery. Your boss isn't giving you a gift when they sign off on your paychecks.

It's for this reason that we see offerings within spellwork often contain consumable substances like food, water, alcohol, tobacco, incense, and candles, which are often considered to be spiritually consumed by the spiritual forces present for the spell, so that they are empowered to get the work done.

And finally for this short list of examples, there can be offerings which function as gifts.

Such offering often include things which A) aren't spending time with that entity, and B) don't provide the entity with direct energies to consume.

Example: Buying a very fancy, ornate altar cloth for your familiar's shrine. Speaking well of your familiar spirit in public so they gain desired fame. Adding something enjoyable to your familiar's spirit home.

Such gifts certainly show appreciation and gratitude, yet in and of themselves they are neither direct communication and connection, nor feeding that entity.

Even so, such signs of appreciation may be necessary in order to establish and develop important spiritual relationships.

Additional examples can include payment for services rendered, which may include paying an entity with something it may find value in, but does not consume (such as coins or artwork).

Anyway,

This post is not meant to be a guide on how to interact with spirits or dictate how they should be approached, but rather is only trying to demonstrate that "offerings" may be an umbrella term that couches separate acts which may overlap, but are not interchangeable.

What to do if witchcraft suddenly gets way too intense

1. FINISH WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

► DO NOT walk away from an uncompleted ritual

► DO NOT walk away in the middle of a spell

Grab your notes and close everything down. Dismiss any spirits or entities you are working with. Close down the circle. End the ritual. Diffuse the energy of the spell and close it down. If you were enchanting an item, announce over it that it is closed and nothing more may come in or out.

Spells and rituals are little portals of power; if you leave one open without closing it, all sorts of things could get screwy and come through.

2. End any spooky/witchy atmosphere immediately.

3. Don’t destroy the items/notes you will need later.

Trust me, do not throw away the spell you wrote or the objects you were working on. If things go wrong in the future you will need these to fix the problem.

► Immediately write down exactly what happened. Write down every deviation from the spell that you did. Write down exactly what you said and saw during any visualizations. Write down exactly when things started to get freaky.

► If you were enchanting an item, keep it in a black bag filled with salt until you are ready to deal with it.

4. Cleanse.

Use an energy cannonball to purify the space you were working in. Burn rosemary and bay leaves to fumigate the area, or spritz a premade water solution if you can’t have smoke. Pay special attention to all ritual tools.

If you feel the need to, cleanse yourself by visualizing the power of the smoke enveloping you and driving away any bad vibes; or take a shower if you really feel something has gone wrong.

5. Get out of the area you were working in.

Go to another room. Leave the house if possible. Seek the company of others or turn on the television if you are alone.

6. Do mundane things for a while.

Eat a nice meal. Drink a big glass of water. Go for a jog. Do some chores. Put anything magical totally out of your head. Absolutely do not focus on how weird things just got.

7. When you are ready, return to the area you were working in.

Relax yourself and judge the energies within the room. Are things still ‘creepy’? A heavy-duty cleansing is in order. Do you feel as if someone else is there? Open a window and command it to leave - if it does not, more fumigation or a banishing is required.

Judge your ritual tools and determine if they will need additional cleansing. If you were working on an object, determine if it has been corrupted or if anything is wrong with it. If so, put it back in the salt and deal with it as soon as you can.

8. Take a break from witchcraft for a couple of days.

9. Figure out what went wrong.

Fear is never a good thing. There is a difference between embracing the darkness and being afraid.

► Fear can be caused if an entity showed up you were unprepared to deal with.

► Fear can be caused if your intuition (or perhaps a spirit ally) was warning you that what you were about to do was a really bad idea.

► Fear can be caused if you tap in to powers that overwhelm you.

You need to figure out what went wrong. It isn’t a situation where you can say “oh well” and try something else later - because you screwed up, and next time you may not get an adequate warning before things go to hell.

Very important stuff!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this, save this, etc!! It’s VERY important!! Before coming across this post, I had this very thing happen….. I’m in the middle of casting, within my circle, & I got this OVERWHELMING feeling of fear, terror, MORE than just one feeling, & I didn’t know what to do. I froze & the only thing that I could think was….“What should I do? Do I break my circle, or cut it, or just flat out get the hell outta here?? It was VERY scary!! Then, just like the blog tells you, I wasn’t sure what to do with my spell & spell items.

I hope this doesn’t happen to a lot of Witches, but the risk is there if your casting and/or working with spirits. So plz, just be MINDFUL of WHAT you’re doing, & the ATMOSPHERE around you!! And ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN OR A “BACKDOOR” OUT!! 😊👍🏻❤️🔮

Important things!

The only thing I would add to this, is that when stuff like this happens I highly recommend you reach out to someone else in the witchcraft or spirit working community. Preferably someone you know personally, or someone you know has experience with malevolent entities. That way someone else can check it out and see if theres anything left over that you need to know about. I say this because, the thing about spirits is they are like people. You can ask them to do things, and maybe they will, but if they don’t want to it is out of your hands. This is also accurate when it comes to asking them to leave. If they don’t want to, you will have to find a way to banish them, and if you aren’t powerful enough you’re going to need back up. 

Types of energy: Earth

Introduction to magic masterpost

Earth is the foundation for all. Everything that rests, rests upon the earth (unless it’s some kind of fish but just go with me on this one). When you want a strong, long-lasting spell, fill it with earth energy. But be warned that earth is slow. Prepare your situation with fire and air energies so that your earthen spell is already primed for manifestation.

Earth is the body. It is physical. Use earth energies to alter your physical body, while airy glamours change the perceptions others have of us. If you are having pain, try drawing out the painful fiery energies in the area, then filling the same space with soothing water energies. After that, channel the earth and massage the area with strong earthy energy, urging it to heal you.

When the earth breaks, nothing else can stand. Although an earthquake may take a long time to build up, it can be devastating at the base level. It breaks not only what we have above ground, but every support and infrastructure we built below us. 

The earth heals slowly, but it is wonderful, gentle, and worthwhile. Unlike the painful touch of fire that sears away what is unwanted, earth builds us up so we can support what is wanted, and so we will have greater room for prosperity and happiness in our lives. 

Earth energy is suited to dealing with all things physical, such as physical protection, money, jobs, shelter, and relationships. The more earthy energy something has, the more stable and slower-moving it is. If something is going too fast for you, take a representation of it and bury it in a pot of soil. Ask the earth to stabilize things and slow it all down a bit.

A wild and high-flying opportunity may dissipate in to the wind if not grounded properly. Channel earth energy and gently swing some spider-silk loops of energy around a situation and bring it ‘down to earth’, drawing it closer to you.

Help yourself feel more grounded and stable by interacting with sand, soil, or stones. Carry rough or smooth stones with you and imagine the gentle, flowering energy of the earth with you whenever you need it. Help bring stability to someone else by creating a representation of them and keeping it on top of a flat, strong stone.

In order to build anything it must have a proper foundation. Where your attempts at manifestation have failed, draw earth energy in to the situation to lay out a proper environment for building. If the situation is clouded and murky, clear it out beforehand with air and fire.