Witch

I think a difference between spell and a prayer can be thought of in that a prayer is asking a divine being to intercede in a situation, event, etc. whereas a spell is the practitioner using their own will, life force, connection to the natural energies to focus an intention to create change. This is why many of us who have been around for a time do not use spells often, because when we make that decision to try an affect a change the onus falls directly back on us; versus asking a divine being who can chose to fulfill a prayer or not. I am not saying one is more effective or better than another – though i have my opinion on that 🙂 – what I am saying is that the intention and personal will in a spell, at least in my tradition, is not interceded by a divine force per se.

Caveat: Other witch traditions may be different.

Yes, it is true that we – especially when beginning – think magic spells will make our life easier. It is the draw of magic to see what it can do for us, how it can affect the world.

But over time we learn that magic makes life more interesting as in “may you live in interesting times” (an English curse blamed on the Chinese.) In other words it does not always/often make life easier. Richer and more interesting yes, more immediate yes, but easier not really.

It is good to think of all magical actions/requests as having a shadow side, and that the shadow side is not “bad” or “evil,” but is the fullness of the action you are taking. Sometimes it is that fullness that helps you grow to the next place in your pattern, even though at the time you may not perceive that as a good thing. In fact that is often the case that what you draw to you makes you grow whether you want to or not.

Magic taps into an energy that is larger than we can imagine, so when we work with it there needs to be a humility and an exchange.

True seeing is about reshaping your awareness. We are taught many definitions of reality when we are young: this is a cat, that is a desk, dirt is not food, bugs are bad.

But we are magicians, witches, magic walkers, shapeshifters, edge walkers, Earth worshipers, etc. Because we are that type of being we know there is more than we were taught, more than what makes us “safe.” More than what makes us “fit in.” Things you cannot buy with money.

We stretch our awareness with tools like breath work, shadow work, intentional walking, ceremonies, rituals, fasting, chanting, trance movement, fire circles, drumming, etc. We use what tools call to us to find the more, that deep inside us, we know exists.

Over time through experience, we find that we need to dance in and out of practices and experiences that help us perceive the more, while allowing ourselves to function in the world we live in.

We walk that edge of society, where we strive to see outside the boxes we were taught. We try to create new patterns, healthier patterns for connection with the world.

That is what causes others to see us as challenging, maybe even dangerous, when most often we are visionaries trying to create a better world for all beings.

If you feel your life has over run your practice or path, my suggestions are these:

• use a simple short practice daily, I like to use a breath pattern – just a constant reconnecting to the thread that is your practice. Pay attention to your breath.
• use your morning or night time get ready rituals to look into a mirror and reaffirm: your magical name, your current path, or the actual thing you are currently working on.
• charge a glass of water and drink in the positivity
• go for a walk in a forest and sink into the Natural world
• find a rock and allow it to re-center you
• reaffirm for yourself, as you do for others, the positive energy you want to give them whether it is cooking, cleaning, or gift giving and wrapping
• Allow the things that can be dropped to drop to make room
• Get enough sleep to dream
• Go simple find/remind yourself the joys that lead you to this path

Don’t ask yourself for too much right now, ease into your practice, but try to be consistent w/o beating yourself up. This is supposed to be a positive path not a guilt based path.

Bright Blessings

One practice that might be useful is to make time to connect to the 4 quarters of the day. BTW if you want to do this don’t feel bad if you have to set an alarm on your phone.

I am a big lover of dawn and the beginning of the day. Many I work with are more enamored of the twilight of the day. Both times are where energy shifts from one thing to another and it is a loose more open time when things are less defined therefore they can have more magical potential. Noon on the other hand is mid day the power point of the sun’s path, a time when things are more defined and more clear. Midnight is the heart of the darkness, when without artificial light we can breath in the mystery of what cannot be seen. Remember these are my interpretations from my experience, yours may be different where you live.

In my community, we call these connections to the natural cycle where you are attunements – attuning to the cycle of the day. You can also connect these four points to elements if you work with those. Dawn would be air, Noon is fire, Twilight connects to water and Midnight to earth. So if you are doing a specific working/task/ritual that needs one of those elements and you have built a regular daily connection with that time of day – I am sure you can see how that could boost the working.

This is an addition to working with the moon phase or the solar aspects. It is great to build connections with patterns in Nature to augment magic.