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:
- 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.
- 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.
