Notes from my journal: Spell(not)work

Why is my spell not working?

I get asked this a lot by witches who are either just starting out in their craft or this is their first really big spell that they care a lot about the outcome.

I used to respond with – Don’t worry about it so much. Just let it go.

Or – Did you set a specific timeline on the spell? Is it supposed to happen between one full moon and another or one season or (put some time here)?

Or – perhaps it’s simply your karma that it’s not meant to be right now.

The responses are little varied. Most of the time I’m blown off and said witch goes on to find someone else who can give them, what I like to call the Staples Button, quick fix (you know, like the commercial, where they hit the big red Staples button and the solution automatically happens). This magic bullet, or big red button, simply doesn’t exist yet, we all look for it at some point in our lives.

So, what do I saw now when a witch comes to me and asks why, why, why won’t my spell work?

I explain that a spell is like a prayer of intent. We gather our tools to bring the desired vibration then, with a chant or prayer or meditation, we send it out into our reality in order to make change happen. This is the definition of magic spell.

The reason a spell doesn’t work is 2 fold:

1. A spell or prayer of intent must be left alone. This is something I learned when I was in Sunday school at my grandmother’s Baptist church. Worry is a sin. Worry over a matter you’ve prayed for (or have cast a spell for) shows lack of faith in God (or the Universe or the Deities or the higher Self, etc). By worrying over a spell, you’re not allowing it to happen. – The Fix? Let it go! Let your spell work. Let it take its time and work as your path allows it to. By worrying over it you’re sending doubt into the Universe and blocking the very thing you want.
2. The other reason why a witch’s spell doesn’t work is because it does. Confusing? Well, so many witches visualize a spell or intent and expect it to happen with trumpets sounding and a big banner saying THIS IS IT! They don’t realize that the man they bump on the street in a hurry to get to their appointment was the Mr. Right they cast a love spell for or that the Boss’s dog dying was the perfect time to show remorse and letter get that big promotion they cast a money or job spell for. The Universe is subtle and we have to boost our intuition and understanding that every little curve in our path can lead us in the right direction. 

I know that neither of these things offers a quick fix. The life of the modern witch is, sadly, not like that portrayed on television shows like Bewitched, Sabrina or Charmed. There is no all knowing Book of Shadows that offers a spell for every situation, no matter how unlikely, and poof – your demons, inner or outer, are gone and all is well with your world. Magic isn’t all smoke and glitter and big bangs. Sometimes its soft and gently like a summer breeze on skin.

A large portion of spell casting is faith. Faith is simply believing in yourself or in the Universe or Deity that you’ve invoked for the spell and that the spell will come to its fruition somehow. There are ways to build faith.

One way is to build your intuition. This may seem unconnected but if your intuition is strong, you will be able to see the omens as what they really are – signals and messages from the Divine or the Divine Self.

By building intuition and seeing and understand omens, you can better see your ability to walk the path laid out for you AND to see the subtle ways spells work out (without big bangs and trumpets sounding). By seeing these messages, you can better understand how your spell can work instead of running around blindly trying a dozen ways to force your spell to work and having doubts about the outcome.

I want to leave with a note of understanding. I know that life can be hard sometimes but the Witch’s Way or Path or whatever you would like to call it offers the hope of enlightenment and understanding of the world around us. We simply have to open ourselves up to this possibility. Don’t be distressed when a spell or ritual doesn’t work out how you thought it should. Open up your heart and eyes for the smaller, simpler, and, sometimes more magickal things in life.