Help with spell and invocations

[bakp]

I need help doing efficacious spell and invocation work. Every attempt has failed, and I have often been left standing in the circle, feeling like an idiot after saying a spell or reciting an invocation.

I’ve tried a lot of things—lucid dreaming, visualization, hypnosis, etc.—over the years, but with no results. In terms of using visualization, I can honestly say I do not possess this essential faculty (inner sight), which I’ve read is often crucial for magic. I don’t dream, and I can’t visualize anything.

I’ve even tried proper Zen meditation—and still, nothing.

I have offered to pay certain authors of notable works on magic to help me acquire the necessary “qualifications.” Not one could do it, even on a whim, and they’ve all turned down the proposition.

I seem to be missing something (I don’t know what). I’ve tried everything I’ve read over the years, and I’m sick of all of it. I prefer practicality over theory or talk—talk is cheap.

Deep doubt has set in, where curiosity and enthusiasm once were.

Is something wrong with me? Please, Can anyone offer any real help?

 

[Graycrow]

You're probably going to find two types of answers to this.

Answers will either fall under the belief that all magick needs to be performed a specific way, during a specific time, with specific tools, and with many other considerations.

Then there is the type of answers that are formed as almost a riddle that is cryptic and most likely not what you are wanting to hear.

My answer will probably be one you don't want to hear. And that most practitioners will disagree with. One, you don't need visualization skills at all. Two, your results are tied to your expectations of the outcome. You probably have a expectation of what a successful working looks like. How it will feel being performed. And because your experience and results don't match these expectations you feel like a failure or like your missing something.

I really hope you get something from this garbled mess

It all depends on YOU. Your results will be a direct reflection of what you are expecting. And there is no ONE way to perform magick. Again it's all about you. Don't think in terms of right and wrong. Think more along the lines of effective and ineffective.

The fact you are trying and reaching out says a lot about your determination. I hope you find what you're looking for.

GC

 

[bakp]

You're probably going to find two types of answers to this.

Answers will either fall under the belief that all magick needs to be performed a specific way, during a specific time, with specific tools, and with many other considerations.

Then there is the type of answers that are formed as almost a riddle that is cryptic and most likely not what you are wanting to hear.

My answer will probably be one you don't want to hear. And that most practitioners will disagree with. One, you don't need visualization skills at all. Two, your results are tied to your expectations of the outcome. You probably have a expectation of what a successful working looks like. How it will feel being performed. And because your experience and results don't match these expectations you feel like a failure or like your missing something.

I really hope you get something from this garbled mess

It all depends on YOU. Your results will be a direct reflection of what you are expecting. And there is no ONE way to perform magick. Again it's all about you. Don't think in terms of right and wrong. Think more along the lines of effective and ineffective.

The fact you are trying and reaching out says a lot about your determination. I hope you find what you're looking for.

GC

Thank you for your reply.

 

[IllusiveOwl]

I seem to be missing something (I don’t know what). I’ve tried everything I’ve read over the years, and I’m sick of all of it. I prefer practicality over theory or talk—talk is cheap.

Deep doubt has set in, where curiosity and enthusiasm once were.

Is something wrong with me? Please, Can anyone offer any real help?

You are missing something very critical, and your focus on practicality / results over theory is a symptom of that. What works and what is should take precedence over abstract theories and concepts, but you need to find truth first before you know what you're doing.

You can wave a wand and say a bunch of magical words like the famous ABRA-HAD-ABRA with the intention of making your problematic neighbor move out, but aside from getting a noise complaint, nothing will happen because you're just saying words and doing physical gestures. Can you see the missing piece? This is much like you say:

I have often been left standing in the circle, feeling like an idiot after saying a spell or reciting an invocation.

Zen meditation is an excellent tool for quieting your mind and achieving presence, but what use is that presence on it's own without philosophy? The same for Visualization, Belief, Lucid Dreaming, hypnosis, etc. These are all tools but a toolbelt is useless on its own.

I believe you need to step back and ask WHY are you doing magic? For what purpose? You should also ask yourself grounded fundamental questions such as "What am I?" "Where am I?" "What is this that is happening right now?" "What do I want?" "What is it that makes me Live?" "What is it that I don't have?" "What will happen when I die?" This is why most Magicians start out as Mystics or with piles and piles of books before moving on to actual practice. Philosophy, Science, Theology, Metaphysics, all of it is pointing towards something, but your distrust of all of that theory is warranted because what you're looking for won't be laid out to you in words, what you're looking for is Gnosis, i.e. direct experience of Truth.

Magic without purpose is impossible, because the chief component of it isn't belief but Will. How can you Will something without your heart being in it? Before you can really manipulate reality, you have to have an understanding of reality, of why magic would even work in the first place. You need to get into contact with your Higher Self in order to even understand what your Will is, and that is a whole journey in itself.

 

[bakp]

You are missing something very critical, and your focus on practicality / results over theory is a symptom of that. What works and what is should take precedence over abstract theories and concepts, but you need to find truth first before you know what you're doing.

You can wave a wand and say a bunch of magical words like the famous ABRA-HAD-ABRA with the intention of making your problematic neighbor move out, but aside from getting a noise complaint, nothing will happen because you're just saying words and doing physical gestures. Can you see the missing piece? This is much like you say:



Zen meditation is an excellent tool for quieting your mind and achieving presence, but what use is that presence on it's own without philosophy? The same for Visualization, Belief, Lucid Dreaming, hypnosis, etc. These are all tools but a toolbelt is useless on its own.

I believe you need to step back and ask WHY are you doing magic? For what purpose? You should also ask yourself grounded fundamental questions such as "What am I?" "Where am I?" "What is this that is happening right now?" "What do I want?" "What is it that makes me Live?" "What is it that I don't have?" "What will happen when I die?" This is why most Magicians start out as Mystics or with piles and piles of books before moving on to actual practice. Philosophy, Science, Theology, Metaphysics, all of it is pointing towards something, but your distrust of all of that theory is warranted because what you're looking for won't be laid out to you in words, what you're looking for is Gnosis, i.e. direct experience of Truth.

Magic without purpose is impossible, because the chief component of it isn't belief but Will. How can you Will something without your heart being in it? Before you can really manipulate reality, you have to have an understanding of reality, of why magic would even work in the first place. You need to get into contact with your Higher Self in order to even understand what your Will is, and that is a whole journey in itself.

I am not someone who just woke up one day and decided to wave a wand and do magic. As I’ve said—if I haven’t already made it clear—I have been researching magic for years. My house is filled with books from many traditions and philosophies read over the years. I’ve read everything from the philosophies of Plato to Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism (Advaita Vedanta, Tantra), as well as Kant, Hegel, Evola, Agrippa, Paracelsus, and others, including their esoteric aspects.

I understand the metaphysical meaning behind the so-called barbarous words and the “instruments of the Art", neither do treat them as "mere tools.”

If I gave the impression that I just woke up one day and started experimenting with lucid dreaming, hypnosis, meditation, etc.—as if I had simply picked a random book from the library—that was never my intention.

I grew up in a very Christian, religious household, and in my country, shamanic magic was—and still is—regularly practiced (though I no longer live there). I also hold a degree in electrical engineering, which is why I strongly value practicality over theory—because of the nature of the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years.

I’m not saying any of this to brag. I truly believe that real illumination—when it is genuine—is superior to all the books in the world.

I’m not trying to do magic without purpose, or without my heart being in it. If that were the case, I would have given up a long time ago. Some of the practices I’ve tried in my pursuit of gnosis are things I’m even too ashamed to speak about. Thank you for taking the time to reply, none of this is main stream , and so i appreciate your help.

 

[IllusiveOwl]

I have been researching magic for years. My house is filled with books from many traditions and philosophies read over the years. I’ve read everything from the philosophies of Plato to Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism (Advaita Vedanta, Tantra), as well as Kant, Hegel, Evola, Agrippa, Paracelsus, and others, including their esoteric aspects.

I understand the metaphysical meaning behind the so-called barbarous words and the “instruments of the Art", neither do treat them as "mere tools.”

The problem you are having is one of a beginner, only someone who's heart isn't in it would dare to feel like an idiot after preforming something within the circle. If you are as veteran, developed, and educated as you claim, you wouldn't be having this problem. Perhaps you haven't internalized and digested all those big names you have read?

I truly believe that real illumination—when it is genuine—is superior to all the books in the world.

It sounds like you've answered your own question, you have all the books in the world, but lack genuine "real illumination".

 

[frater_pan]

Meditation itself will not help you effect magick. However meditation that helps you concentrate will help (most meditation will do this but different meditations do different things - guided meditation for example won't help you develop concentration).

Try to do something small but meaningful for you. For example I first tried serious meditation to defend myself from abusive people (obviously too high a goal, but in my case it "worked" - this was also after experiencing years of psychic activity). This also has to be limited. For example, we cannot heal all the people in the world or even a single person most of the time.

I have seen people advocate manifesting a parking spot for example for people beginning spell casting. It could be easier for you to take a Wicca approach to start with (that is, invoke typical Wiccan gods/goddesses and the 4/5 elements). Since you have a shamanic background culturally, then a shamanic approach might work for you. Follow your intuition but you also might want to do divinations to see where you might begin to see accomplishments, while at the same time not be consumed by a desire for visible accomplishments.

I mentioned concentration at first because my entire approach is based on extreme concentration on an intention. Others don't do that. Ritual at some level is extremely helpful although I would not try just a visualized ritual where you are now. Specifically invoke gods and goddesses to help you accomplish your goals. One of your goals is to cast efficacious spells. You can try that as a longer term goal while you begin to cast spells for much shorter scale and term accomplishments. Finding techniques that work can take time and can be a quest in itself. In a sense that never ends.

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2025

Another thing that could help is looking at the first spells / invocations that well-known magicians accomplished, even if they were failures. Eliphas Levi is infamous for apparently making one and only one invocation which technically failed but still resulted in a spirit invocation - not that this would be recommended. Similarly Lon Milo Duquette's first invocation was successful but it could have gone extremely badly. know of people who invoked nearly impossible to get tickets for something and got them (lucky them, if something is really impossible then the invocation doesn't have much chance of success). I don't remember what Crowley reported as a first invocation but he was kind of operating internally as a magician since he was around 15 years old (so sexual energy plays a big role). Another approach could be using candle and sigil magick since there is less of a need for visualization and intention is the main thing + some form of charging.

 

[Morell]

I need help doing efficacious spell and invocation work. Every attempt has failed, and I have often been left standing in the circle, feeling like an idiot after saying a spell or reciting an invocation.

I’ve tried a lot of things—lucid dreaming, visualization, hypnosis, etc.—over the years, but with no results. In terms of using visualization, I can honestly say I do not possess this essential faculty (inner sight), which I’ve read is often crucial for magic. I don’t dream, and I can’t visualize anything.

I’ve even tried proper Zen meditation—and still, nothing.

I have offered to pay certain authors of notable works on magic to help me acquire the necessary “qualifications.” Not one could do it, even on a whim, and they’ve all turned down the proposition.

I seem to be missing something (I don’t know what). I’ve tried everything I’ve read over the years, and I’m sick of all of it. I prefer practicality over theory or talk—talk is cheap.

Deep doubt has set in, where curiosity and enthusiasm once were.

Is something wrong with me? Please, Can anyone offer any real help?

Casting spells is an art, but it is also quite difficult skill. One, that you, if you're not gifted, won't learn in a month. I'm such a case, to find a system that would be second nature for me took me damn years, but during those years I practiced. Now that I think I found it, I came to it not being complete noob, which also was a boost for me.

I have single ritual at my disposal, banishing ritual based on Liber Null and constructed according to my faith. It felt amazing few days, then fascination faded and long boredom of infectivity began. But that is the learning curve of magic. It still kind of feels ineffective, but that's not the point anymore. I've practiced it more than 1 500 times over those years and successfully tested it in action on banishing evil spirits as well as on purifying my own energy with great effect. (after many months of practicing) Still practicing daily without feeling anything, but that doesn't matter anymore, it is a skill still practiced and at my disposal if I happen to have a need for it.

Here is the thing. Magic is not something that will reveal to you right during the rite if it works or not through your emotions or through extravagant visions. Usually it won't, but if then you notice that a change occurred, it worked.

It doesn't matter if you have magic gifts, those can only give you easier start. What matters is if you can give it long time of work and dedication. Then during time it happens that some people in time develop magic or spiritual senses. But don't bother comparing with others, they are not you. So it is also true that it requires you dedicating yourself to do it, giving into it your heart.