[Help] Need help finding out if a ritual worked, LOL

[Koldo]

I know that the title might sound like a joke but hear me out. I'm genuinely confused.

I'm really new at this so only recently started experimenting a bit after some months reading as much as I could in my free time, and I decided that the best way to test some practical magic would be one of Damon Brand's rituals, in particular the one described in Magical Cashbook which relies on binding and ordering the spirit Nitika. My logic was that since I would be able to see if I had more money or not after some time (the ritual must be repeated everyday until successful), it would be an ideal way of testing the waters so to speak. The result (Is it a result yet?) left me somewhat confused, however.

Let me explain:

I asked for a specific amount of money, 800, for a specific purpose (as suggested in the book) which in my case was helping in paying the deposit for a new rent, and followed the steps in the ritual religiously for three days. The second day I actually performed it twice as I wanted to be extra. Today is the fourth day, and it might have worked yesterday. Or not. You decide. Since I'm so new at this I genuinely have no point of reference, so I would really be thankful for your opinion.

What happened was that my partner came to me saying that we will be able to get a new car, but not pay a deposit in advance if we do it through a certain company. This was something that was known to him, or at least he suspected could happen, but not to me at the time, and despite the fact we will not need that car for a few months he decided to look into it now and tell me. So now I know that I will be able to save money in a deposit that is over those 800 I asked, but this is not really a change (since there are no news), just old information that came to me, for which I am now aware we will have more money than we thought.

So, my question is: Does the knowledge that I will be able to save money, knowledge I did not have previously, qualify as the ritual working, or should I keep nudging Nitika everyday with the ritual until I see more concrete results?

 

[Yazata]

That almost sounds exactly like Lon Milo DuQuette's story of his first Goetia evocation? I'd say it's a result definitely. Can't hurt to continue the ritual though

 

[Koldo]

That almost sounds exactly like Lon Milo DuQuette's story of his first Goetia evocation? I'd say it's a result definitely. Can't hurt to continue the ritual though

Thanks Yazata. So I guess I will follow your advice and consider it a win, but continue the ritual a few more days and stay attentive for any further developments. If there are any I will post them here to add any clarification.

 

[HoldAll]

What happened was that my partner came to me saying that we will be able to get a new car, but not pay a deposit in advance if we do it through a certain company. This was something that was known to him, or at least he suspected could happen, but not to me at the time, and despite the fact we will not need that car for a few months he decided to look into it now and tell me. So now I know that I will be able to save money in a deposit that is over those 800 I asked, but this is not really a change (since there are no news), just old information that came to me, for which I am now aware we will have more money than we thought.

So, my question is: Does the knowledge that I will be able to save money, knowledge I did not have previously, qualify as the ritual working, or should I keep nudging Nitika everyday with the ritual until I see more concrete results?

If I understand this correctly it sound's like what Peter J. Carroll call "retroactive enchantment", magic working backwards in time. Happened a few times to me when I was messing with chaos sigils, things starting to roll or beginning to materialize (unbeknownst to me) before I even drew those sigils. Damon Brand also says elsewhere that magic can work backwards in time. "Magickal Cashbox" is about windfalls, so what you got sounds like one, a happy accident.

 

[Yazata]

If I understand this correctly it sound's like what Peter J. Carroll call "retroactive enchantment", magic working backwards in time. Happened a few times to me when I was messing with chaos sigils, things starting to roll or beginning to materialize (unbeknownst to me) before I even drew those sigils. Damon Brand also says elsewhere that magic can work backwards in time. "Magickal Cashbox" is about windfalls, so what you got sounds like one, a happy accident.

Crowley also mentioned this (somewhere), how the wheels may have been put in motion before you cast your spell. I believe his example was about him doing a ritual to have his friend (Bennet?) write him a letter from England while he was in India.
The letter arrived shortly after the ritual but (because of the time and distance) had to have been written already.
Another way of thinking of this is then that you are "supposed" to do the Magick because the universe is already acting as if you had.

 

[Koldo]

If I understand this correctly it sound's like what Peter J. Carroll call "retroactive enchantment", magic working backwards in time. Happened a few times to me when I was messing with chaos sigils, things starting to roll or beginning to materialize (unbeknownst to me) before I even drew those sigils. Damon Brand also says elsewhere that magic can work backwards in time. "Magickal Cashbox" is about windfalls, so what you got sounds like one, a happy accident.

I think this answer and the more recent one from Yazata has my head spinning a bit. For now I'm just glad that it worked, and will certainly practice more in the future as a result. Thank you guys for the answers and for keeping this forum well stocked with great information and the library.