I'm kinda new at magick and I wanna know some tips from people who have gone before me. Also I'd like you to tell me what spells that didn't require materials actually worked for you. Please and thank you.
Here's some tips I recommend for any novice witch or magician...
You will most likely change your mind. Many times. The paradigm you start with may not be the one you finish with. You will evolve, change, and if you stay with the practice, you will look back and be startled where you came from. I started with wiccan books (and really didn't identify as anything), and these days I'm a traditional hedge-witch (very very different from where I started).
Understand that witchcraft is a practice, not a religion, but that you can apply religion to it, if that is your wish.
Be aware when you look for book sources that a lot of authors in pagan literature are coming from a Wiccan or Neo-Wiccan viewpoint. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s important to know, and it’s important to read critically. Check sources, read on authors. Steer clear of Silver Ravenwolf.
The best thing to do when you’re starting is to do lots of research. Look into the different philosophies and religions under the pagan umbrella, and look into the many practices of magic and witchcraft there are.
Respect your fellow practitioners, no matter what deities they do or do not follow. That includes the Satanists, the Luciferians, the Lokeans, the Christopagans, the secular witches, and the atheists too. Do not knock it because you don’t understand it.
Consider your mistakes to be valuable learning opportunities. If you’re in the wrong and an apology is called for, make one. If you do a poorly done spell that come back to bite you in the butt, learn from that too.
Never let yourself fall into the trap of trusting everything a mentor says. There are good teachers and bad teachers, but even the best can be wrong. Trust, but verify. That’s the key to good learning.
You interested in spirit work? Have an offering on hand, but keep a “sword” or banishing talisman near just in case. Be weary of the truthfulness of some spirits. It might be paranoid, but a little prevention and carefulness is better than scrambling for a cure later.
Right off the bat, don't cast spells, learn a bit about them, work with the energy, then try a spell. Spells don't need materials, they do help, but most of the power comes from the caster. Energy, focus, belief, visualization, determination, and effort are all needed from the cast for the spell to work. Look into charging and grounding energy before going further on the spell path. Once you are ready, try a very simple protection chant.
I also recommend you get one reliable beginners guide, study it, and practice from the book. You can stray from the book, but for your first couple months, try to stick with the instructions provided. There really isn't a wrong way for most of Paganism, but if a book gives you a specific method, try it. If it says to visualize the energy as a white light, but you visualize gold, that's fine, if the book says you cast a circle in the east, but you feel like starting in the south, there's nothing wrong with that, but try the books method the first couple times so you grasp the concept.
I suggest you make a "My First Book of Shadows" as it is probably the best thing to have. You don't need to fill it will spells, you don't need to organize it either, or in fact call it a Book of Shadows. You should have a journal with you at all times where you can write down useful information. This can be from definitions to rituals and spell results, dreams, meditation experiences, and even random thoughts that popped into your head. It's a way to learn not only about the craft but about yourself as well.
What is your path anyway? While most of Paganism doesn't have many rules, you should look into the rules and beliefs of your path. If there are none - or just a few - try writing down what you believe is right and wrong on your path. This is an exercise everyone who is new to any path should do. It doesn't have to be fancy, just write down some beliefs, then put the paper away when you've run out of ideas. Pull it out a few months later and edit the list. Repeat this two more times, and by the end you should have a pretty clear view of who you are and what you believe. The Rede of Wicca for example is simple enough until you start to define what harm is, you might discover eating meat is harmful, gossiping is harmful, or curses are fine as a means to defend yourself. Whatever feels right to you.
well I can only tell you some things you should work on to increase your base abilities with magic but everything else is up to you:
- Meditation(strengthens concentration and allows for safer use of different spells and/or techniques)
- Visualization(many spells and techniques require for user to be quite skilled in it to work)
- Energy flow(call it how ever you want magic/chi/psi or whatever but for all intents and purposes its the same stuff only difference is in greater or lesser amount of physical abilities needed to use it to its full potential, in other words you must know and be able to sense it and its flow through your body as well as how to guide it)
- Energy manipulation(all the power in this universe is useless if you don`t know how to bring it out and control it to do as you wish. Spells like psi ball and few similar ones can help you improve your control)
Magic is what you make of it. With magic the lines between reality and impossibility are blurred. Granted the laws of physics still apply, but they are much more lax with what people who practice any form of magic from just incantation spells to spells that are ingredient based. To practice magic you must know your intent and will it into existence.
Thanks guys these were really helpful. I liked what the last guy said, will it to existence. Btw some guy said sword, you can create a sword of magic? So what I've heard is true, I can use energy to create the impossible, possible but, I can't form nothing into something. (simple physics) but I will look into everything you guys said.
