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<\/a><\/p>\nPractice builds skills<\/h2>\n
Almost everyone has some natural ability with magic. Some have a lot \u2013 things come easy for them, and if they work at it they can do amazing things. Most have some \u2013 they have to work harder to develop their skills, but when they do they can generate good strong magic on a consistent basis. A few have little natural ability \u2013 they have to work even harder, but they can still move the odds in their favor when they do.<\/p>\n
Whatever your level of natural ability, like any other skill the more you practice magic the better you get at it.<\/p>\n
Do not dismiss this as \u201cProtestant Work Ethic\u201d! That\u2019s a misunderstanding. The Protestant Work Ethic is the Calvinist idea that hard work is a virtue in and of itself, and that doing such work on a regular basis is a sign of being \u201celected\u201d by their God. Thus they assume those who achieve much \u2013 especially in the way of finances \u2013 are favored by their God.<\/p>\n
Working diligently at magic doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re favored by the Horned God<\/a>, any more than working diligently at basketball means you\u2019re favored by the spirit of James Naismith. It\u2019s a basic cause-and-effect relationship: repetition builds skills. Star basketball players aren\u2019t more virtuous than everyone else \u2013 they\u2019re just really good at basketball.<\/p>\n Likewise, witches and other magic users who practice regularly aren\u2019t \u201cbetter than\u201d those who don\u2019t. They\u2019re just better at magic.<\/p>\n Last Tuesday I sat down and decided what I wanted to work magic for in the coming month. As usual, I picked a half dozen targets, wrote them in a positive present tense, and then turned them into sigils. As I was finishing up, I took one last look at my targets.<\/p>\n There was a health goal I\u2019ll probably achieve without doing anything. Another health goal I can achieve if I just pay attention. A writing goal that can be reached with a bit of ordinary focus. And some other things of a similar nature.<\/p>\n And it hit me \u2013 I was setting my sights awfully low.<\/p>\n On one hand, I don\u2019t want to disparage using magic to enhance simple goals. If you need and want something and there\u2019s a 70% chance you\u2019re going to get it anyway, using magic to move those odds to 90% is a worthwhile effort. Remember: Hillary Clinton had a 70% chance of winning the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and we all know how that turned out.<\/p>\n Plus any magical work is practice that helps build magical skills. Those skills come in handy when needs are great and the odds are not in your favor.<\/p>\n But still \u2013 those were some pretty easy targets. And as I reviewed previous months, I saw more small goals. There were a couple of deeper items, about which I will continue to keep silence, lest the problems rise again like a monster in a 90s horror movie. But in the absence of a clear need, I\u2019ve been picking easy targets.<\/p>\n I feel like I\u2019m leaving magic on the table.<\/p>\n There are skills I could be building that I\u2019m not, because I\u2019m not working on them. There are magical techniques I could be getting better at that I\u2019m not, because I\u2019m sticking to what I\u2019m comfortable with. And there are results I could be generating that I\u2019m not, because I\u2019m not going after them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time for a challenge.<\/p>\n And as is so often the case with my blogging, if I\u2019m feeling something, there are probably a bunch more people who are feeling the same thing, or something close to it. So if you\u2019re a witch, a sorcerer, a wizard, a spell caster, or a magic user of any description, here\u2019s the challenge:<\/p>\n Go after something big this month.<\/p>\n Something really big.<\/p>\n Pick something you want. Not what you think you want and not what you\u2019ve been told you\u2019re supposed to want, but something you<\/em> want. If what you really really want is something altruistic, fine. But for this challenge, there needs to be real desire behind it.<\/p>\n The idea that magic shouldn\u2019t be worked for personal gain is self-righteous Hollywood garbage \u2013 I first heard it on the original Charmed<\/em> in the late 1990s. It\u2019s completely at odds with the whole history of magic and its countless spells for health, wealth, and love. Besides, if you feel like you should<\/em> be working magic for world peace, the skills you develop doing this will make it easier for you to accomplish something in a future working (beginning with learning to select a more specific target).<\/p>\n How do you figure out what you want? Ah, that\u2019s the hard part! Seriously, figuring out what to work magic for is usually harder than actually working the magic.<\/p>\n Start with meditation. I do my best work on things like this on long walks outdoors. Divination can help, particularly if you\u2019ve got two or three ideas and you\u2019re trying to choose between them.<\/p>\n Your choice doesn\u2019t have to be perfect. It doesn\u2019t have to be what you want most \u2013 just something you really want. You aren\u2019t limited to one shot. And what you learn in this working will help you in future workings.<\/p>\n Just remember that magic often works in ways we would prefer it wouldn\u2019t. The more specific your target, the better chance you have of getting what you really want and not something that matches your words in a way that you\u2019d rather not have.<\/p>\n Pick something that can be done in a month. Really big workings may take multiple months or even multiple years. That\u2019s fine. Big goals are almost never achieved all at once. Break them down into multiple sub-goals and work on them one at a time.<\/p>\n Pick something you can be ready to do in three weeks \u2013 if your spell requires hard-to-get ingredients, you may need either a different goal or a different method.<\/p>\n The next full moon is Thursday, June 24 at 1:39 PM CDT. That means the best time to work most spells (for most of us, anyway) will be the evening of Wednesday, June 23. If your target is something best done under a waning moon \u2013 or under a dark moon<\/a> \u2013 adjust your plans accordingly.<\/p>\n I work magic by the moon. The moon is by far the biggest object in the night sky and it holds the greatest influence. I\u2019ve generally had good results with that approach. If you want to add more astrological timings to it, by all means do so.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, the current Mercury Retrograde ends on June 22 at 5:00 PM CDT.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve gotten very comfortable with sigil magic\u2026 perhaps too comfortable. I use it most times, even when another method might be more appropriate. So I\u2019m also challenging myself to do this working with another approach. I think that will be some sort of candle magic. I have some experience with it, but I\u2019m far from an expert.<\/p>\n You do what works for you. If you\u2019re fairly new to magic, you may want to stick with what you know \u2013 a big target is challenge enough. If you\u2019ve been doing this a long time, this may be the motivation you need to work on a different approach.<\/p>\n Just remember: the goal isn\u2019t to make things harder. The goal is to refine existing skills and learn new skills.<\/p>\n What ingredients will you need? Where will you get them? What sort of workspace will you need? How long will you need it?<\/p>\n What sort of preparatory work will you need to do?<\/p>\n What spiritual allies would be willing and able to help? What sort of offerings would be appropriate? How can you structure this within your existing relationships and not make it a quid pro quo? Or are you working with a spiritual ally who prefers to keep things quid pro quo?<\/p>\n Making a detailed plan reduces the chances of overlooking something, or flat-out forgetting it.<\/p>\n Gather your supplies. Do your prep work.<\/p>\n And then when it\u2019s time, work the spell.<\/p>\n Remember the Witches\u2019 Pyramid: to know, to will, to dare, and to keep silence. Resist the urge to tell us all about it, at least until it\u2019s done. But do take good notes.<\/p>\nSetting my sights too low<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s time for a challenge<\/h2>\n
What do you want to work magic for?<\/h2>\n
Something for the June full moon<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nSelect a magical method<\/h2>\n
Make a plan<\/h2>\n
Work the plan<\/h2>\n