[Help] Anyone make up their own recipes for spellcasting or do you go by the book?

[Phillian]

I was curious about others' thoughts on this topic, and I'm delighted to see that a majority believes the best approach is to create your own and give your personal touch when it comes to your personal craft. In a way, it reminds me of the principle I apply when cooking: I can use a recipe as a guideline, but, as a principle, I will never make a replica of the same dish; I will either give my own spin or use the knowledge the recipe provided to create something new. I guess it feels more special when you give your own take, so I guess the same idea can be applied to witchcraft.

 

[solxyz]

I was curious about others' thoughts on this topic, and I'm delighted to see that a majority believes the best approach is to create your own and give your personal touch when it comes to your personal craft. In a way, it reminds me of the principle I apply when cooking: I can use a recipe as a guideline, but, as a principle, I will never make a replica of the same dish; I will either give my own spin or use the knowledge the recipe provided to create something new. I guess it feels more special when you give your own take, so I guess the same idea can be applied to witchcraft.

Yes, it is almost exactly like cooking. I will note however that "using a recipe as a general guideline" works best for people who are already fairly skilled cooks. For those who are still learning the art, it is best to follow some good recipes faithfully a good number of times, and only slowly begin adding variations.

 

[art-vark2323]

I devise my own rituals and spells much of the time. I'm not averse to following instructions, but I find that for many things, it's better to come up with my own work.

 

[Parrsplat]

I've been wondering this for a while now. And this question kinda has become from a psychic heckler thats been saying my practice isn't real because I come up with mostly original stuff.

So Ive been wondering if anyone of you actually come up with your own original practice? Or if anyone of you create your own recipes/directions for ritual spellcasting? Or come up with ideas(so long as it correlates with the original intent) as one would go along their ritual(freestyling a ritual)? which is how I come up with some of my own rituals

I do my own stuff all the time! There is something to having a more set path that many have walked down and added to, but it doesn't prevent you from getting results. Sometimes going based on intuition when you have a pretty good understanding of what you work with can make a ritual stronger imo.

 

[tigra]

Oh, absolutely DIY here. And I would say even the most go-with-the-program follower got to make their system-fundamentalist rituals and spells part of themselves somehow. That´s how you learn stuff for real, make it yours... not like cramming for exams (forgotten everything the week after). Also I simply haven´t got the head for systems, never get it...probably scatterbrained

i hope to get like this one day.... i always get worried im doing things wrong or "out of order"! i will stop thinking this way.

 

[nunaphael]

I believe it is similar to music theory or color theory. You can be creative and make up your own expressions, but there are principles and fundamentals that are operative in what you are doing, and once you understand those principles and fundamentals, your expressions become more "effective" so to speak, in conveying your intended message to the audience.

Just like learning a new instrument, you learn the basics first, how to hold it, how to clean and care for it, and then you pick up some really basic songs to start with just to get the hang of it, and then you progress to something more challenging to practice new techniques you want to learn as you go. This half of the process is called "musicianship" where you put the practice in to actually learn from hands-on experience.

The other half is music theory. You study the timing, the notation, the fundamentals of WHY certain chords sound pleasant to the ear, and WHY music has a certain structure to it. That stuff is academic, but knowing it gives you insights when it comes to your practice so you actually understand WHY you do the things that you do. You become aware of not just WHAT and HOW to make music, but WHY. And that's really important in the long term if you ever want to go beyond imitating other musicians.

You put the two together and that's how you become a great artist, in any kind of art, whether it's music, dance, sculpture, poetry, you name it. There's the practice, and there's the study, but it's not just about how well you can replicate what's been done before. That's only half of it. The other half is BEING the one who wrote the songs you're learning, who discovered the rules you're applying. Become one of these people yourself. That requires a leap of faith you have to make on your own whenever you're ready.

 

[Veracity]

There’s been times when I’ve followed an ingredient list or 2, hell I just used one for a simmer pot the other day. But over all I take what seems right and makes sense, and use that. Am I Chinese? Hell no. Do I use Lion dance or Dragon dance music when I’m cleansing my home cause sharp percussive sounds are typically used in a ton of practices to scare away evil sprits and ward off negative energy? Yes I do. It’s just about utilizing what you have for finding something adjacent to your idea. Same with your tools and garbs and everything else. People think it gotta have a fancy polished crystal for stuff or you gotta buy it from some shop or master craftsman when in reality the things you create with your own two hands and energy are way more powerful for you cause it’s like storing up your energy in different forms. I’m rambling a bit but you get the idea.

 

[Amizodpalsdon]

I do both. Some recipes are tried and true and many others do not logically make sense if you've really studied correspondences in depth.

In a way I was a recipe collector for a long while, but specifically so I could deconstruct them to fully understand the reasoning that went into making them.

Final note: you will always get more out of ingredients that you connect with than ones that you do not. Just because something is rare and cool (don't get me wrong, I do love my rare ingredients) does not automatically make them better than a plant you've grown up around all of your life.

Yeah, a bit like cooking really, get a few tried and tested recipes under your belt but feel free to experiment, even if you have to eat your own disasters from time to time you'll eventually get the ingredients, cooking process and seasoning just right . Good luck.

 

[Accipeveldare]

I've been wondering this for a while now. And this question kinda has become from a psychic heckler thats been saying my practice isn't real because I come up with mostly original stuff.

So Ive been wondering if anyone of you actually come up with your own original practice? Or if anyone of you create your own recipes/directions for ritual spellcasting? Or come up with ideas(so long as it correlates with the original intent) as one would go along their ritual(freestyling a ritual)? which is how I come up with some of my own rituals

Well, lets first look at the history. How did the other spells and rituals come to be? Did they appear out of thin air? No. They were created by other people, with originality.
So, your answer is to simply do what works for you best. I make some of my own rituals too and spells as well. They work just fine to me. As long as they are in line with the universal and energetic laws, they should work fine.

 

[Swampdweller900]

I'm also a DIY-ish practitioner. Personally, intent is 90% of the work, so the mechanics might not be textbook, but that's not important.

I approach most spells and rituals the same way I approach recipes. There's one in a book, but what do other people who have tried this out say? Are modern tastes and desires and harmonies the same? Not always. Then I look online and sort of aggregate out what seems to be common across several versions of the same thing. If anything stands out as an interesting addition, I might consider it if it feels like a good match. For me, that's usually about herbs and both availability and which ones feel like a good match.