Do I suck at Magick

[esotericdykism]

Guys how do u get the things i do to actually work. I swear to god every spell jar/pétition/etc has done jack shit. What do we think I’m doing wrong?

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

It sounds as if you are doing Hoodoo. Are you trained in Hoodoo, believe in its folk wisdom, etc? In all magic, the tools/rites are focuses for your will and emotions. Do you have a strong will and emotional force for the workings you have done? Hoodoo also often requires relationships built up between you and spirits, are you doing workings with spirits and have you taken the time to build those relationships?

There is really a lot going on, If you are not getting results there is definitely something missing. either skills you need to build up, relationships, or maybe your sources of the workings are not valid.

Could you give us some more info?

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

Guys how do u get the things i do to actually work. I swear to god every spell jar/pétition/etc has done jack shit. What do we think I’m doing wrong?

Do a small achievable and measurable spell that works asking for immediate results. You gotta reconvince yourself that magic works.

 

[esotericdykism]

Nooo no no not hoodoo just very general magick. I don’t do closed practices lol. Speaking of hoodoo, I do have a friend (who is black guys dw) who’s trying to convince me to do hoodoo. But I’m very certain I’m to white for that lol. Because I’m not doing any sort of like ancestral magick I didn’t think I needed to use spirits. I was just using the universe but maybe the problem is a need for a better source. What would you recommend?

Post automatically merged: Today at 3:16 PM

Do a small achievable and measurable spell that works asking for immediate results. You gotta reconvince yourself that magic works.

This is a good idea, what would you recommend for a fast moving immédiate spell?

 

[Eris'AppleWorm.]

You're using the universe as a power source? Are you sure there's a universe? Try drawing power from outside the universe.
If theres nothing there then you've got potentially energy and things are likely to move fast since there's nothing there to slow it down so its gonna be a pretty fast acting spell.

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

Nooo no no not hoodoo just very general magick. I don’t do closed practices lol. Speaking of hoodoo, I do have a friend (who is black guys dw) who’s trying to convince me to do hoodoo. But I’m very certain I’m to white for that lol. Because I’m not doing any sort of like ancestral magick I didn’t think I needed to use spirits. I was just using the universe but maybe the problem is a need for a better source. What would you recommend?

Post automatically merged: Today at 3:16 PM

This is a good idea, what would you recommend for a fast moving immédiate spell?

Dream spell or a petition to your deity of choice for a sign that youre being heard. Then forget about it and dont look for the dream or sign. It will come within the day.

 

[esotericdykism]

You're using the universe as a power source? Are you sure there's a universe? Try drawing power from outside the universe.
If theres nothing there then you've got potentially energy and things are likely to move fast since there's nothing there to slow it down so its gonna be a pretty fast acting spell.

Wait I’m stupid I don’t think I quite understand what you’re trying to say. I apologize

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

Restricting someone's practice because of their race is ridiculous. You are an infinite soul who exists for a blink of an eye inside a physical body, which is different every single time you incarnate. If your friend is trying to teach you hoodoo and is good at what he does why would you prevent yourself from learning? Because you were born white this round?

 

[esotericdykism]

Restricting someone's practice because of their race is ridiculous. You are an infinite soul who exists for a blink of an eye inside a physical body, which is different every single time you incarnate. If your friend is trying to teach you hoodoo and is good at what he does why would you prevent yourself from learning? Because you were born white this round?

Uh well it’s more about a connection to the spirits then the actual race. Hoodoo originates in a certain community and the spirits are attached to said community ancestrally. So that’s why people recommend not going into it if you aren’t apart of the community since the spirits probably won’t accept you

however because i was asked by a hoodoo practicioner I did consider the spirits might be more open to allowing me to call upon them

 

[ashlesha]

Have you tried conjuring spirits to do the work for you? If you struggle with directing intention and using your psychic muscles, then while you're practicing that, a spirit should be able to take care of it. Herbs/oils/materials are good for adding "living power" to spells, but it's really willpower and psychic force that makes spells and magic operate on the internal & outside world.

If you want an easy spell that calls on a multitude of spirits with a low chance of things going wrong, check out Gilberto Strapazon's book on magic with the angels of the Shemhamephorash. You can pair his rite with any physical spell jar or petition you made.

 

[esotericdykism]

Have you tried conjuring spirits to do the work for you? If you struggle with directing intention and using your psychic muscles, then while you're practicing that, a spirit should be able to take care of it. Herbs/oils/materials are good for adding "living power" to spells, but it's really willpower and psychic force that makes spells and magic operate on the internal & outside world.

If you want an easy spell that calls on a multitude of spirits with a low chance of things going wrong, check out Gilberto Strapazon's book on magic with the angels of the Shemhamephorash. You can pair his rite with any physical spell jar or petition you made.

This is really helpful thank you

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

Do you feel there is a single human that is not able to be traced back to common ancestors? Have respect for the people who brought Hoodoo into its current form, but dont limit yourself because of skin color. It is rare to find a qualified teacher. If you feel drawn to it, and your friend is able to produce results, stop holding yourself back. that is my opinion anyway.

 

[Digiquo]

You sound like you're hung up on the specifics of whatever ritual or craft you've decided to cling onto. While there are certainly practices that highly recommend you follow their instructions to the letter for various reasons (in the Goetia this is claimed to be for purposes of safety because the spirits you are working with follow rules and if you don't play the game right you can invite things in you don't intend or otherwise open yourself to risk), for general magic working you need literally nothing except your own mind.
I have an altar where I like to try and practice rituals I've devised to help focus my intentions, but the real magic is happening in my head by setting my intentions and manifesting them as I go about my day every day, all day. Most of the spellwork that doesn't involve directly contacting and communicating with spirits is not for show per se, but the only thing it really does is to heighten your conscious awareness and help focus your intention and put you in that ritual mindset.
Where most people hit a wall with this method is trying to control every detail of their desire, rather than simply intending the most absolute version of the result you want and letting fate fill in all the details. This allows your magic to take any and every avenue of approach to manifesting your goal rather than restricting it to one or a few paths.
Here is an example of a bad (ill-conceived) intention: "I want to win the million dollar lottery when I go to buy a ticket at the gas station down the road tomorrow morning."
Here is that intention distilled down to a form much simpler and easier to manifest: "I will have a lot of money."

In the badly formed intention, the desire for lots of money is being obfuscated by the details of how that money is acquired and how quickly you receive it. Lottery winners don't really care that their loads of money came from the lottery, they just wanted to be rich. The other piece of that intention that sets it apart from a well-formed intention and which isn't immediately obvious, is the choice of the words "I want". "I want" is not particularly assertive, and your own mind picks up on this. You need to be assertive with your intentions and use phrases such as "I will have" or "This will be" or you can even be exceptionally affirmative and set intentions phrased as though they've already manifested like "I am rich", which is even better, but can be paradoxically less effective if you don't believe in the efficacy of the method to begin with.

All other ritual implements and ceremonies are designed to strengthen this intention process and if you need systems like that to latch your brain onto and give you a framework to build off of, then that's okay, it's your path and everyone's is different. But don't forget these details are where the real magic is happening.

 

[esotericdykism]

You sound like you're hung up on the specifics of whatever ritual or craft you've decided to cling onto. While there are certainly practices that highly recommend you follow their instructions to the letter for various reasons (in the Goetia this is claimed to be for purposes of safety because the spirits you are working with follow rules and if you don't play the game right you can invite things in you don't intend or otherwise open yourself to risk), for general magic working you need literally nothing except your own mind.
I have an altar where I like to try and practice rituals I've devised to help focus my intentions, but the real magic is happening in my head by setting my intentions and manifesting them as I go about my day every day, all day. Most of the spellwork that doesn't involve directly contacting and communicating with spirits is not for show per se, but the only thing it really does is to heighten your conscious awareness and help focus your intention and put you in that ritual mindset.
Where most people hit a wall with this method is trying to control every detail of their desire, rather than simply intending the most absolute version of the result you want and letting fate fill in all the details. This allows your magic to take any and every avenue of approach to manifesting your goal rather than restricting it to one or a few paths.
Here is an example of a bad (ill-conceived) intention: "I want to win the million dollar lottery when I go to buy a ticket at the gas station down the road tomorrow morning."
Here is that intention distilled down to a form much simpler and easier to manifest: "I will have a lot of money."

In the badly formed intention, the desire for lots of money is being obfuscated by the details of how that money is acquired and how quickly you receive it. Lottery winners don't really care that their loads of money came from the lottery, they just wanted to be rich. The other piece of that intention that sets it apart from a well-formed intention and which isn't immediately obvious, is the choice of the words "I want". "I want" is not particularly assertive, and your own mind picks up on this. You need to be assertive with your intentions and use phrases such as "I will have" or "This will be" or you can even be exceptionally affirmative and set intentions phrased as though they've already manifested like "I am rich", which is even better, but can be paradoxically less effective if you don't believe in the efficacy of the method to begin with.

All other ritual implements and ceremonies are designed to strengthen this intention process and if you need systems like that to latch your brain onto and give you a framework to build off of, then that's okay, it's your path and everyone's is different. But don't forget these details are where the real magic is happening.

Thank you

Post automatically merged: Today at 4:45 PM

You sound like you're hung up on the specifics of whatever ritual or craft you've decided to cling onto. While there are certainly practices that highly recommend you follow their instructions to the letter for various reasons (in the Goetia this is claimed to be for purposes of safety because the spirits you are working with follow rules and if you don't play the game right you can invite things in you don't intend or otherwise open yourself to risk), for general magic working you need literally nothing except your own mind.
I have an altar where I like to try and practice rituals I've devised to help focus my intentions, but the real magic is happening in my head by setting my intentions and manifesting them as I go about my day every day, all day. Most of the spellwork that doesn't involve directly contacting and communicating with spirits is not for show per se, but the only thing it really does is to heighten your conscious awareness and help focus your intention and put you in that ritual mindset.
Where most people hit a wall with this method is trying to control every detail of their desire, rather than simply intending the most absolute version of the result you want and letting fate fill in all the details. This allows your magic to take any and every avenue of approach to manifesting your goal rather than restricting it to one or a few paths.
Here is an example of a bad (ill-conceived) intention: "I want to win the million dollar lottery when I go to buy a ticket at the gas station down the road tomorrow morning."
Here is that intention distilled down to a form much simpler and easier to manifest: "I will have a lot of money."

In the badly formed intention, the desire for lots of money is being obfuscated by the details of how that money is acquired and how quickly you receive it. Lottery winners don't really care that their loads of money came from the lottery, they just wanted to be rich. The other piece of that intention that sets it apart from a well-formed intention and which isn't immediately obvious, is the choice of the words "I want". "I want" is not particularly assertive, and your own mind picks up on this. You need to be assertive with your intentions and use phrases such as "I will have" or "This will be" or you can even be exceptionally affirmative and set intentions phrased as though they've already manifested like "I am rich", which is even better, but can be paradoxically less effective if you don't believe in the efficacy of the method to begin with.

All other ritual implements and ceremonies are designed to strengthen this intention process and if you need systems like that to latch your brain onto and give you a framework to build off of, then that's okay, it's your path and everyone's is different. But don't forget these details are where the real magic is happening.

Do you have any tips for putting yourself in the mindset tho? I feel like I struggle to stay in it once ive actually begun my workings

 

[reverendsteveii]

Guys how do u get the things i do to actually work. I swear to god every spell jar/pétition/etc has done jack shit. What do we think I’m doing wrong?

can we get some more info on what you're actually trying to do and how you tried to do it? one of the harsh lessons of magick is that there are limits to it as well, they're just different than the limits of mundane work and the art is in learning how to leverage both.

when i was a baby chaos nerd someone introduced me to an experiment designed to overcome the exact problem you're facing. it's super simple: manifest a half-peeled orange, defined as an orange where the skin is broken but still at least partially present. the rationale is that an orange is common enough that manifesting one shouldn't be too difficult, but that a fully peeled or fully unpeeled orange is too easy to dismiss as change. I tried visualization, spell jars, petitions to the spirits, all sorts of things and what ended up working for me was just concentrating on the idea of a half-peeled orange while dredging up as much emotional energy as i could. Later that day I saw an orange that had been hit by a car along the side of the road, skin broken but still attached to what flesh remained.

I also want to strongly echo Digiquo, don't try to tell magick how to do its job. In fact, for their example of money I would have gone one layer more abstract than "I will have a lot of money" and into "I will always have the resources to get what I need".

Finally, in re: closed practice discourse - if a practitioner offers to teach you a closed practice who are you to speak over them and declare that their offer to teach you violates the rules of a practice they participate in that you don't? I'm not saying you should or shouldn't pick up hoodoo, but by declaring it a closed practice despite someone trying to open it to you you actually position yourself as an authority and dictate the rules to an actual practitioner. If they're willing to teach and you're willing to learn let them teach you. If you don't want to do hoodoo then don't. But don't tell someone who actually does hoodoo the rules surrounding hoodoo. That's some white savior stuff and it's a subtle way of creating a hierarchy and placing yourself at the top of it.

 

[esotericdykism]

can we get some more info on what you're actually trying to do and how you tried to do it? one of the harsh lessons of magick is that there are limits to it as well, they're just different than the limits of mundane work and the art is in learning how to leverage both.

when i was a baby chaos nerd someone introduced me to an experiment designed to overcome the exact problem you're facing. it's super simple: manifest a half-peeled orange, defined as an orange where the skin is broken but still at least partially present. the rationale is that an orange is common enough that manifesting one shouldn't be too difficult, but that a fully peeled or fully unpeeled orange is too easy to dismiss as change. I tried visualization, spell jars, petitions to the spirits, all sorts of things and what ended up working for me was just concentrating on the idea of a half-peeled orange while dredging up as much emotional energy as i could. Later that day I saw an orange that had been hit by a car along the side of the road, skin broken but still attached to what flesh remained.

I also want to strongly echo Digiquo, don't try to tell magick how to do its job. In fact, for their example of money I would have gone one layer more abstract than "I will have a lot of money" and into "I will always have the resources to get what I need".

Finally, in re: closed practice discourse - if a practitioner offers to teach you a closed practice who are you to speak over them and declare that their offer to teach you violates the rules of a practice they participate in that you don't? I'm not saying you should or shouldn't pick up hoodoo, but by declaring it a closed practice despite someone trying to open it to you you actually position yourself as an authority and dictate the rules to an actual practitioner. If they're willing to teach and you're willing to learn let them teach you. If you don't want to do hoodoo then don't. But don't tell someone who actually does hoodoo the rules surrounding hoodoo. That's some white savior stuff and it's a subtle way of creating a hierarchy and placing yourself at the top of it.

My bad about the hoodoo stuff guys ive just always heard very impassioned warnings against it. I was already considering that because a practicioner asked me about it was different. Based on yalls reactions i assume that’s correct

Post automatically merged: Today at 5:03 PM

can we get some more info on what you're actually trying to do and how you tried to do it? one of the harsh lessons of magick is that there are limits to it as well, they're just different than the limits of mundane work and the art is in learning how to leverage both.

when i was a baby chaos nerd someone introduced me to an experiment designed to overcome the exact problem you're facing. it's super simple: manifest a half-peeled orange, defined as an orange where the skin is broken but still at least partially present. the rationale is that an orange is common enough that manifesting one shouldn't be too difficult, but that a fully peeled or fully unpeeled orange is too easy to dismiss as change. I tried visualization, spell jars, petitions to the spirits, all sorts of things and what ended up working for me was just concentrating on the idea of a half-peeled orange while dredging up as much emotional energy as i could. Later that day I saw an orange that had been hit by a car along the side of the road, skin broken but still attached to what flesh remained.

I also want to strongly echo Digiquo, don't try to tell magick how to do its job. In fact, for their example of money I would have gone one layer more abstract than "I will have a lot of money" and into "I will always have the resources to get what I need".

Finally, in re: closed practice discourse - if a practitioner offers to teach you a closed practice who are you to speak over them and declare that their offer to teach you violates the rules of a practice they participate in that you don't? I'm not saying you should or shouldn't pick up hoodoo, but by declaring it a closed practice despite someone trying to open it to you you actually position yourself as an authority and dictate the rules to an actual practitioner. If they're willing to teach and you're willing to learn let them teach you. If you don't want to do hoodoo then don't. But don't tell someone who actually does hoodoo the rules surrounding hoodoo. That's some white savior stuff and it's a subtle way of creating a hierarchy and placing yourself at the top of

I would say ive done mostly very beginner things. Small pétitions for positive change, as mentioned in another thread a money bowl, some things about love (not a spell on someone), and some glamour magick. Also protection stuff obviously. I haven’t done anything crazy most of what ive done has ended up in jars. I think my main problem is pulling energy, like you can do the steps with the right matériel but without the proer energy, intentions it won’t do anything. I just feel I’m struggling to focus it if that makes sense

 

[reverendsteveii]

My bad about the hoodoo stuff guys ive just always heard very impassioned warnings against it. I was already considering that because a practicioner asked me about it was different. Based on yalls reactions i assume that’s correct

Post automatically merged: Today at 5:03 PM

I would say ive done mostly very beginner things. Small pétitions for positive change, as mentioned in another thread a money bowl, some things about love (not a spell on someone), and some glamour magick. Also protection stuff obviously. I haven’t done anything crazy most of what ive done has ended up in jars. I think my main problem is pulling energy, like you can do the steps with the right matériel but without the proer energy, intentions it won’t do anything. I just feel I’m struggling to focus it if that makes sense

I'd recommend you peruse either this site or any of the innumerable other places that it may appear for Alan Chapman's Advanced Magick for Beginners. Rather than blindly trying different systems, that book will help you understand what they have in common and what makes a system tick. From there, find a system that calls to you and try the orange experiment. Wait a little while to see what results may manifest, then try to do another thing with the same system. From personal experience, you'll know which one works for you before it works. It will feel right, there will be an undeniable sense of having connected to something powerful.

As far as the hoodoo thing goes, your instincts aren't wrong: this is a big, deep thing and there's a tendency to be over-cautious and try to avoid offense. It's when it goes off the rails into tumblr white-knight-ism that it gets away from its original goal of protecting a cultural thing from dilution and mockery and instead pushes toward white people performing racial hypersensitivity for other white people. If you're interested, talk to your friend who offered to teach you but maybe also investigate books on the subject. I've learned a lot from Starr Casas, Ray Malbrough and Charles Porterfield. After all, if someone took the time to write a book and publish it they certainly wanted that information to be available to people.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

Uh well it’s more about a connection to the spirits then the actual race. Hoodoo originates in a certain community and the spirits are attached to said community ancestrally. So that’s why people recommend not going into it if you aren’t apart of the community since the spirits probably won’t accept you

however because i was asked by a hoodoo practicioner I did consider the spirits might be more open to allowing me to call upon them

If your friend wants to initiate you it can be seen as a spirit validation