Over the years I have noticed a very common question; Why arent my Spells working?, this question has many answers in this post I hope to clarify the common causes of spell failure and how to address it, without having to go through long stories and explanations to get down to a simple point.
What are you trying to achieve?
This is problem, is incredibly common and is a question I find myself asking many people when they come with spell problems.
What is your goal? What are you trying to achieve? What is the purpose of your spell?
Magic is not miracles, it cant break the rules or change everything it merely helps smooth out the bumps in the road or cause more bumps. If your spell has a goal ofBeing able to Fly Gaining Superpowers Making a fictional character come to life or my personal favouriteTurn me into some fictional being any of these goals, areimpossibleno spell, no matter how much effort you put into it will not work end of story.
Spells that give you goals ofBring me love Curse this person Protect my Family all found under thepossiblecategory. So when facing a Spell, whether one you found or one youre trying to making follow the basic question ofWhat am I trying to do, is this remotely possible? following the idea above if it promises goals only seen in fiction then youll only have fiction in your hands, nothing else.
Effort: Physical
Some practitioners believe that just casting a spell will give you your result, this is not true and never will be true there may be times where you cast a spell and have the result somewhat immediately or rather quick generally these are coincidences or you shooting your arrow high and getting the bullseye, but, when it comes to effort in magic, I mean after the spell has been cast you need actually act in a way to help achieve your goal, here is a list of some examples.
Weight loss Spell you actually need to diet and exercise, the spell will help but not instantly give it to you.
Love Spell you need to put yourself out there into the dating world, no potential lover will just show up to your door five minutes after casting your spell.
Job Spell you need to apply for a job.
Money Spell to attract money you need to get a job or perform some kind of task to earn money or get into gambling/lotto. Money wont come to you while youre sitting there doing nothing.
This list could go on for a long time, but ultimately you need to put some kind of physical effort with spells, otherwise the magic will wither and die.
Effort: Magical
Unlike the previous heading, If you find the spell isnt working you need to asses if youre doing enough, magic requires some kind of effort either if its in the conviction of your cast or perhaps the detail you place into your spells you need to show the powers that be or the universe that you mean what you want, here are two examples.
Internalized Effort: Some practitioners work their magic with very few ingredients by focusing on their energy, will/intent either muttering to themselves or reciting the spell to the sky for this, it would be best if you focused a lot on your centring, grounding and being able to direct energy (Generally through visualization)
Externalized Effort: The ingredients you use, the gestures and words you perform or even the offerings you give. This being said it doesnt mean you need to fork out $100s for one spell, what I am saying is if youre going to be physical with your spell, make each action deliberate and thought-out, make the symbolism meaningful.
This section more so covers the effort from yourself, in the next few sections Ill be covering the effort from more external forces.
Not enough Allies
As much as we like to be independent, there are some times we cannot achieve our goals on our own, so we would need to call in some kind of magical assistance whether it be other practitioners, spirits, deities, herbal allies etc. Some spell failure can be attributed to the fact ofyoure currently not able to put enough forward on your own not saying that the spell is complicated, but more that you may not be completely together, magically speaking, and until you can more stand on your own two feet more comfortably, youre going to need some help look into particular allies who can be of assistance, ask the plants youre planning to work with to help you, and of course, give them something in return.
The thing about this heading, is that its very hard to diagnose to the point it isnt really a problem however, some people find it easier after having a few failures on one spell to ask for some help on the next try and find that the spell is more successful. To each their own.
Unpaid Fines
If youre working with spirits or deities, you do need to keep track of what you owe and to who. If it turns out you owe a certain spirit an offering of some kind and you try and ask them for more help before paying they can rip that spell out from under you or interfere with it in some way, shape or form. Always make sure you pay off any debts you have to whatever spirit you have been working with.
Family/Spirit Business
If youre a practitioner that does work with spirits/ancestors there may come times when youre trying to achieve a particular end with a spell and find it doesnt work, this may be because the spirits youre working with dont agree and are interfering on your behalf because they see a better option for you, which you havent noticed yet. To address this, divining before you cast is generally a good idea, or communicate with your spirits to say Hey, I want to do this spell, what do you think? Spirits that youre involved with and are working closely with, do have a kind of attachment to you and will step in if they believe it is important, for both your benefit and ultimately their benefit.
Ancestors too do this as well, they interfere when they do not agree with what youre doing and since they are your family, they may have some kind of personal bias towards you and what it is your doing (Such as an Ancestor or two might hate the fact youre practicing magic).
To address this negotiate with them, communication is a great tool.
If youre finding that they are still not budging, offerings are a great solution, buy them over.
Outside Magical Interference
When I say this, I mean things like other practitioners blocking you from practicing, spirits trying to interfere negatively with your craft because they just dont want you to. The best way to handle this is to divine, use a set of tarot cards, runes, playing cards, scrying, you name it find out who is blocking you and figure out how to remove it one method I like to do is to use Magic Squares, something I can write out and keep on my persons to cleanse me requires very little Magic but just the power from the words and symbols none of which are coming from me.
Personal Blockages, Burning Out
This happens from time to time, it is a scary and sad thing when no matter what you do, you have a mental block or youre feeling burned out you cant get into your spells like you used to, your book hasnt been touched in months, cant even think about the spirits without feeling some kind of loathing.
These things happen, you fall into a rut and you need to get out of, generally this takes time and a long time at that, you need to rest, recover and heal up magic is tiring, it is part of your life once you step into it, and it never leaves. Much like an art block or writers block, you need to step out, you need to refresh yourself, and one day it will all come back dont be frightened, it happens.
Lack of knowledge
This falls in conjunction with the first three headings, essentially it means that you need more research if a spell youre looking at doesnt make sense, learn about it before you do it, figure out what each gesture, word and action means why youre using this symbolism other than that, spells arent a good idea if youre just starting out read books, ask questions, read articles and ponder learn!
Adjusting
Sometimes a spell, no matter how perfected it might be, or how trusted it is, it might just not work for you, so you need to either find a new spell or adjust the current one, change it up figure out a substitute that works for you either with more or less ingredients than the original spell. If it is a spell you made, look at it again a while later, see what doesnt make sense and try and change it so it flows better, maybe after you have casted it, you found problems in the method that didnt help the spell flow adjust that, figure it out. Best to do this a while after casting the spell so you dont become frazzled.
Doubts
Youre your worst enemy, if youre doubting or second guessing yourself during and after the spell, its going to fall apart. If you do find yourself having doubts during cast stop apologise to the spirits you have conjured to your aid, give them their offering or libation so they know they didnt come for nothing and will hopefully return next time. A lot of magic is internal and if youre doubting yourself, you arent going to be at 100% cast your spells with conviction, act with conviction be sure in your desire, as the words in some spells goAs I wish it, So Shall It Be! This line isnt a murmured wish, it is a command, command yourself and your power, go forth and cast!
It just wont work
Sometimes you have the accept the fact that its not going to work, either adjust it like above or try it again at a different time in your life sometimes your life isnt in the right state for that kind of magic, wait, be patient, youve got time.
These are not all the reasons as to why spells can fail, these are just the more common ones - other potential 'failures' can come from unsuitable method to distance and relevance.
