When beginning a magical practice, much is made of your “spell intentions.” And yet, when performing spell work, it is often the beginning witch’s last priority.
New practitioners often get hung up on the particulars of a spell. “What if I don’t have mugwort?” or “Oops, I said the incantation wrong!” But modern witchcraft generally regards these tiny details as meaningless when compared to your spell intentions.
(In fact, worrying about spell particulars is perhaps the most common mistake beginners make).
So why are spell intentions so important? And how do you get them “right”? What happens if you don’t?
Let’s get into all that today.
(And if you’re new to spell craft, check out Moody Moon’s School of Metaphysical Arts class, Witchcraft 101: Discover the Magic in You).
What are spell intentions?
Put simply, your spell intention is exactly what it sounds like:
The reason you’re casting your spell, and what outcome you hope to achieve.
Just like any other effort, a precise understanding of exactly what you mean to do is crucial to a successful magical practice—-even if (or maybe especially if) it doesn’t work out the way you hoped it would.
Directing your energy.
The reason there is so much emphasis placed on the concept of spell intentions is that these intentions direct your energy. Theoretically (at least according to modern magical philosophy) this energy impacts or shifts the fabric of your reality.
In this understanding of “magical mechanics,” the tools you use to cast the spell are really just solid, consensus-reality objects that represent these intentions, thereby connecting your spiritual, non-physical efforts to your current plane of existence.
Deep stuff!
But it’s the mental imagining of the outcome that moves spiritual “mountains” and clears obstacles that stand in the way of your highest goals.
In fact, for this reason, many experienced practitioners see no need for tools at all. (Although that doesn’t stop me from amassing an ungodly collection of them myself).
Setting clear spell intentions.
For all the reasons listed above, setting clear intentions is the best way to shape your life with your magic.
So, before you design a spell (or select a pre-written spell), consider the following things?
-What do I hope the outcome of this spell will be?
-How will I feel if I actually get what I want? Will this really make my life and the lives of the people around me better?
-Am I trying to shortcut? In other words, are there mundane, real-world efforts I need to make to get what I want/need?
-What spiritual obstacles stand in the way of my goal? Do I need to clear negative energy that is messing with my confidence? Find a job that better aligns with my spiritual needs? Find more like-minded friends to keep me motivated and engaged with my goals?
It’s common sense, but we often forget:
In order to fill a gap in your life, you first have to figure out what’s missing.
What to do when the universe makes a joke at your expense.
So here’s the funny thing about magic: It’s not actually about the outcome of the spell you cast.
That’s my personal opinion, and it’s a controversial one. But I stand by it, and here’s why:
The universe, or godhead, or whatever you want to call the underlying forces that direct our destiny, isn’t here to do your bidding. It’s not your minion, and you are not its taskmaster. (And thank goodness for that—imagine if you got exactly what you thought you wanted when you were 17).
You’re here to learn. And when used wisely, magic is a sagacious teacher.
More often than not, what you’ll find is that when a spell hits the mark, it usually manifests in an unexpected way.
Cast a money spell, and you may find yourself with 20 hours of overtime you hadn’t planned on.
Cast a healing spell and you’ll get better just in time to do that big presentation at school that you were trying to avoid.
Cast a spell for psychic awareness and you may quickly discover that you don’t actually want to know what people are thinking.
The universe is a big, mysterious place. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about it, it’s this:
When it comes to your spell intentions, the universe likes nothing more than a good joke.
