Two Essential Virtues to Cultivate For Magickal Success

There are two essential virtues that are necessary to success in all magickal workings, without which you will find yourself frustrated time after time. These virtues are patience and trust. If you’ve ever completed a working and expected to see results instantly, you’re not alone. My Aries self is not known for patience. In fact I had a friend tell me that of all my verbs, “waiting” is not one. I’ve had to learn to make “waiting” one of my verbs, and add “cheerily” as an adjective to it. In learning this, my success in magick has increased exponentially.

Though sometimes manifestation occurs very quickly (I’ve manifested many a parking spot and many a green light), this isn’t always the case and it definitely shouldn’t be mistaken as the norm. Most of the time, it takes time for workings to manifest. When manifestation happens almost instantly it’s super exciting. But how do you respond when it’s taking longer? Or worse, what if you get the opposite result?

Patience

It’s not uncommon to wait weeks or months to see the results of a working, depending on what the working is. I waited years for one of my workings to manifest. Impatience can actually kill the work. Impatience is the ground from which doubt grows. If you’re doubting your work, it won’t manifest 99% of the time. Yes, I made that statistic up based on my personal experience with dismal failure in magick. Impatience is rooted in fear, ingratitude, and a lack of trust.

If you’re obsessing about the work (which is likely if you’re impatient), you’re getting in the way of it and not trusting that it will manifest. Obsession strangles magick. If you’re stomping your feet demanding your intention manifests in the timeframe you want, the universe is laughing at you. We don’t necessarily know everything that needs to happen on the unseen side for our intentions to manifest. Usually, demanding a timeframe is the equivalent of trying to tell someone how to do their job from a place of complete ignorance as to what their job is. It takes the time it takes.

There are some caveats here. I’ve had fantastic success with St. Expedite in getting things I need in a particular timeframe, but as his name suggests, he’s all about getting things done today not tomorrow. I also worked successfully with the spirit of water to hold off rain on one of my wedding days (granted, it was the most exhausting thing I did that day- a day which included a lot of socializing for this introvert- because the rain was supposed to come all day). Working with spirits has been the only exception for successful time sensitive workings that aren’t simple, in my experience.

Trust

If you’ve ever done a working and right away the opposite of what you intended occurs, it can be hard to trust that the magick is working, but sometimes things have to get a lot uglier before they get better. Say you did a working to improve a relationship, but now you and your partner are fighting more. Sometimes underlying problems in a relationship need to come the surface and be dealt with so that you can actually move forward with that person and see real improvement. The magick is working, just not in the way you expected.

The idea that the problems will just go away because of magick is a fallacy. We still have to do the regular work along with the magickal work. And it’s important not to work against the magick that you’ve done. If you’re trying to improve your relationship, but you’re yelling at your partner, you’re counteracting the working with your own choices. Your magick won’t override your actions.

Sometimes how things appear to be moving will tempt you to doubt in your work. Having faith that you will receive what you’ve intended despite the obstacles is important. In the example above, choosing to trust your work while also choosing to respond to your partner in a way that supports the work will bring about faster results. As one of my teachers says, movement is movement, even if it seems like things are going backwards. Sometimes you have to go backwards before you can move forward.

Understanding Trust

One more thing about trust. There’s “trust” and then there’s trust. “Trust” is the anxious affirmation of belief in your work all while being secretly worried and not trusting at all, perhaps with feelings that things can’t really happen for you underpinning it. It’s the death grip on the steering wheel, the absolute refusal to let go, all while paying lip service to believing everything will work out.

Trust knows that what is willed is manifested, so gratitude is given, and now it’s time for a snack and to go do something else while remaining secure and confident in your magick. Be confident in your magick. Keep a record of everything that’s worked so you can go back and look at it as a big middle finger to your mental critic anytime you feel like doubting your magick.

When The Work Fails Anyway

Perhaps you are patient and trusting in your work, but the work has failed anyway. This can definitely happen, especially if you’re trying to manifest something that isn’t right for you. Usually in a scenario like this, it’s your own ancestors who are saying no. You may not understand why it didn’t work out right away, but in time it will become clear. In each instance, consider that the specific thing you wanted may not have worked out, but did the working actually fail? There’ve been numerous occasions where the specific thing I intended to manifest didn’t work out because there was something better/more suited for me.

I still received the end result of what I wanted, it just didn’t come in the form I was expecting or the specific form I intended, yet the fulfillment was there all the same (and usually better). You can avoid this by performing divination before committing to any kind of working. Sometimes you’ll get the go-ahead to do the working you’re considering just so it will manifest the right result for you, regardless of specifics.

About the Author

Jessica Jascha is a Clinical Herbalist, Intuitive Consultant and writer in Minnesota. She also writes for Witch Way Magazine. She owns Jascha Botanicals and Owl in the Oak Tarot where she gives readings, teaches ritual, and provides holistic consultations. You can find her on Facebook.

featured image via pixabay