I've been researching on this site for quite some time now and I was wondering if there are any actual "newbie" spells or rituals to practice with? I'd hate to just try one and have it go horribly wrong. Are there spells to just practice with?
Well, if you're serious about learning how to do magic and with starting from the rock-bottom then you don't start out by casting spells, you start out by learning how and why magic works.
You see, there is no such thing as an "easy" spell or a "beginner" spell. One either understands how magic works and has mastered the basics...in which case the magic will work..or you haven't done that sort of work..and no spell will work no matter how "easy" it seems.
Casting a successful spell involves much more than finding some spell on the internet or in a book, saying some words, lighting a candle, waving a wand of any of that sort of thing. In order for magic to work you need to understand how and why it works in the first place. Grounding and centering, visualization, focus and intent, energy manipulation, etc are all necessary first steps to even begin to have a chance at a spell actually working...and more importantly to prevent a spell from back-firing on you.
So, my advice for anyone who is truly serious is to start by reading a few books and practicing the exercises those books will give you. Once you have mastered the basics you won't need anyone to give you spells, you'll be able to create your own spells that will be far more effective than anything you find on the net. Here's the books I suggest:
"Before You Cast a Spell" by Carl McColman
"Spells and How They Work" by Janet and Stewart Farrar
I agree with you and I'm sorry if I sounded like I just wanted to jump right head first because that is not what I meant. I just wanted to know after I have my understanding, how to put that to use. I will check out the books you listed to understand more about magic and how it works.
The first thing that all beginners must know is that there is not one single doctrine about how magic works, as Lark would have you believe. Different sources give different explanations. The following webpage gives an overview of the contrasting doctrines of how magic works:
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/magicandspellwork/f/HowMagicWorks.htm