So lately a friend of mine who practices a form of secular witchcraft asked me something i couldn't answer. She told me that lately all of her spells and rituals she had cast had been failing, even though she wasn't sick. She lined up the days perfectly and had all the ingredients. The spells were realistic. I couldn't find an explanation for what was happening. Can someone give me an idea as to what is happening with her?
Sometimes things like this just happen. It's normal to encounter. I like to call them "Spiritual Winters". Basically a period where you don't feel in tune with your deities or your work at all. Some common things people like to do to help alleviate it is meditation, walking in the woods to rejuvenate, prayer with their higher powersor focusing on more early mundane things. I'm sure she'll feel that pull back eventually. Has it been happening frequently for her or did this recently started happening?
At that point, I'd have her ask her higher guidance of whoever that may be to give her some insight on her situation. From my experience, she might possibly be going through a shift in her life. An up-roaring change. Usually after the shift has occurred, I get spiritually realigned again or she might have to give her attention to another aspect on her life spiritually or mundane-wise.
How often is she casting/performing? Has she been feeling overly tired and drained? It sounds like the same thing E said, that she needs to just take a moment to breathe and reflect. Sometimes these things do happen and it is normal. Tell her that maybe she should take a few days or weeks - however long she thinks is necessary - and meditate, reflect, take a breather. She could be simply overwhelming herself.
Could be a lot of things. As mentioned above our energy can ebb and flow with the seasons. [winter half I feel more witchy because in the summer half I'm too hot to go outside, so for 3 seasons I do my best to have a daily practice, then the summer rolls around and I'm content sitting in front of a fan for 3 months and occasionally waving at the moon] your friend might want to reflect on her past year or two, see how she felt each season [more energetic in the summer, more relaxed in winter] and see if there's some type of pattern.
You might also consider the natural energy flow, while some cast with the moon, some go so far as to go down to the day, month, and hour. The veil between our world and the spirits is another some consider as well. They may be tiny things [personally if I'm planning a spell I'll check if the moons waxing or waning, but if it's an emergency I cast regardless of the moon phase]
Thirdly, you friend might be experiencing regular old burn out. If your friend bother one of those spell a day books [I've got three lol] and she's decided to do one a day, it makes complete sense some spells might not work, or her spells suddenly stop. The only limit to the amount of spells one can cast is the amount of energy they have to cast them. [this is why I suggest people do one spell a month] take time off, spend time doing meditations, energy work, grounding, and basically relax and focus more on your spiritual than spells. When your friend starts again [say next month] do one spell, wait a few weeks, then cast another.
You might also consider spells are rarely instant. She might of cast a spell for good grades and concluded the test she took the next day being a C meant the spell failed, but the spell might be working long term and she discovers at the end of the school year her grade point average was an A. Just because you don't see instant results doesn't mean the spell isn't working.
Lastly, while some claim anyone can cast any spell, I know sometimes we're better at some spells over others [i can cast money spells, but job spells are a real struggle for me] if your friend notices it's a specific type of spell that keeps failing it could mean there's a block somewhere. Perhaps she's just naturally better at luck spells than love spells, or perhaps it's because she has a barrier preventing her from receiving the effects of the love spell [like she keeps trying to get a boyfriend but subconsciously she hasn't opened up emotionally to The possibility because she has personal things to work through first] if this is the case she should meditate and journal, little shadow work in that area [a simple method is the why method. I don't feel worthy of love. Why? Because I was cheated on. Why? Because my ex had an issue with our relationship. Why? And so on]
Overall I feel she just cast one too many spells at once and either didn't charge/ground the energy properly or hit a wall and needs to rest.
