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Witchy Self Care & Mindfulness🌻🌿

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Why Your Spells Don’t Work

You set your intention. You had all the correct correspondences. You even timed your spell with the appropriate moon phase. And yet – no results. What gives? 

Failed spells happen to the best of us, and for a variety of reasons. But a spell gone wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that magic isn’t real or that you’re bad at witchcraft. Magic is complicated, and there are a lot of reasons it might not behave the way you want it to. Here are some of the most common causes of ineffective spells: 

1. Lack of real-world follow through

Magic is meant to be used as a tool to supplement your mundane efforts – not as a substitute for them. How can you expect your job hunting spell to bring in results if you aren’t applying for jobs? 

Magic does not exist in a vacuum, and it can’t make something out of nothing. If a spell doesn’t bring you the desired result, make sure that your non-magical actions are aligned with what you are trying to manifest. 

2. What you’re trying to manifest isn’t a realistic possibility

Wait, what? Isn’t magic supposed to be, well… magic? Shouldn’t you be able to ask for whatever you want and get it? Yes and no.

Magic is simply a way of directing energy. Magic can’t defy the natural laws of the universe. It can’t make something happen unless it was already a potential possibility.

If your intention is unrealistic for where you are right now, try splitting it up into a multi-step process. No spell is going to make you a billionaire overnight, but magic could help you get hired at a better paying job… and then get promoted… and then get offered a profitable side gig… etc. Starting small and working your way up is always going to produce stronger results, because you laid the foundation first.

3. Your intention was either too vague or too specific 

Whether you use written petitions or spoken incantations, clearly stating your intention is an important part (maybe THE most important part) of any spell or ritual. A good intention is specific enough to get you the results you want, but open enough to let those results manifest naturally.

Let’s say you do a money spell, and your intention for the spell is simply, “I have more money.” If you find a penny on the ground the next day and pick it up, technically that is more money than you had before. A better alternative would be to use an intention like, “I have enough money to buy ___,” or “I have enough money for everything I need and want.”

Using an intention that is too specific creates the opposite problem. Let’s say you want to manifest a scholarship to a specific school. You do a candle spell with the intention, “I have been chosen for the John Smith Scholarship at Jane Doe University.” But maybe the John Smith scholarship had already been awarded by the time you did your spell. Maybe there’s another scholarship at the same school that would be a better fit for you, or maybe you’re eligible for a grant that would make tuition more affordable. A better intention for your spell would be “I have enough financial aid to easily and affordably attend Jane Doe University.”

Magic always follows the path of least resistance, so you want to make sure that your intention is specific enough to give your magic a clear direction, but open enough to allow it some flexibility. 

4. Lack of focus/concentration

We all know the struggle. You’ve been planning this ritual forever, and it’s finally the full moon, but you’ve got a really full schedule today. If you hurry, you can probably squeeze it into the thirty minute window between school and work, right? 

If you say a few quick words and burn some incense before you head out the door in the morning, that totally counts as a spell, right? 

Not so much. Rushed, lazy, and/or half-assed spells rarely, if ever, work. Spells revolve around the raising and direction of energy, and that requires two things: a clear intention (see above) and intense focus on that intention. If you don’t have the time/energy/mental capacity to focus, it’s best to take a break, have a self care day, and come back to your spell some other time. 

5. You’re subconsciously blocking your own results OR you did a spell for someone else who isn’t open to it

I decided to lump these two together, because they’re different variations of the same issue. 

Whenever you are doing magic on yourself, it’s important that your mindset is aligned with your intentions. You can do love spells all day long, but if deep down you don’t believe that you’re worthy of love, that belief is going to block your spells from working. This is why mindfulness, psychology, and self care are all such important parts of a successful witchcraft practice. It’s also why I recommend doing the mental work before you sit down to ritual. 

If you did a spell on yourself, or are trying to manifest something for yourself, and it just isn’t working, I highly recommend setting some time aside for journaling and meditation and asking yourself 1.) if this is really what you want, and 2.) if you truly believe that you can have it.

The whole mindset thing gets even more tricky when you’re doing magic on behalf of another person, because their energy is also at work in the situation and could be at odds with yours. For example, if you do a spell to help a friend land a job, but that friend believes that they’re totally underqualified and could never get it, they probably won’t get the job even if you did everything “right” in your spell. 

This should go without saying, but it is extremely unethical to use magic to mess around in someone else’s head. Even if you think you know what’s best for them, they need to be open to it. If someone is blocking the spells you do on their behalf, all you can do is try to be supportive and find other ways to help them out.

Other (Rare) Reasons for Failed Spells

If a spell goes wrong, it will almost always be for one of the above reasons. But maybe you did everything “right” – you did the mental work first, had a strong, realistic intention, put lots of focus into your spell, and followed through in real life – and you still aren’t seeing results. There are a couple of other things that could be blocking your spells, but they’re very uncommon so I’m not going to talk about them in as much detail. These may be things you want to look into if you really, genuinely can’t think of any other cause. 

It’s possible that another witch has done magic that cancels out or blocks yours. This is not common, and it does NOT mean that someone has cursed you. It could be as simple as two witches unknowingly casting spells with opposite intentions, which end up cancelling each other out. (For example, maybe two different people both cast a spell to get the same job. Obviously, they can’t both get that job.) This is why it’s never a bad idea to incorporate a protective element into your spells to block outside interference.

There is a very, very remote possibility that someone has placed a curse on you specifically to block your magic. However – and I cannot stress this enough – this is VERY uncommon. If you were cursed you would know it, or at least know that something was very wrong in your life. If you feel like you have been cursed or hexed, I recommend looking into uncrossing spells, which are specifically designed to undo negative magic.

It’s also possible that a higher power is intervening. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a deity, although it certainly could be. Most witches believe in some form of fate or destiny, and it’s possible that your spell didn’t work because what you asked for is not in alignment with your destiny. In these situations, really the only thing you can do is surrender to the bigger picture. 

✨ how to send good vibes! ✨

In the spiritual, metaphysical, and witchy communities, you’ll hear a lot of people say things like “sending love” or “sending good vibes”! fun fact, most people don’t know how to actually do that haha. with a little bit of practice and basic understanding of energy, it’s actually very easy to send simple healing energy to someone. before we jump in, it’s important to note the ethics of energy work. A L W A Y S ask for permission before doing any kind of energy work on someone.  even if you’re only sending positivity! there’s a difference between praying for someone/keeping them in your thoughts and actually sending them energy. you never know how your energy will affect them. maybe they’re not ready to heal. or maybe they’re doing their own healing and your energy might throw theirs out of balance. only do energy work on people who are open to it! 🌙  ✨✨

set an intention of positivity. this is vv important! make sure you make it clear that you only intend to send positivity. I like to say something along the lines of: “may this energy be filled with nothing but love and light” or “my intention is to send only that which is pure”.if you want to send bad vibes, just set the opposite intention (not that I recommend sending anything negative lmao)

get into a meditative state and positive mindset! you can’t effectively send someone good energy if you’re not in a good mental state, first. take some time to breath, meditate, listen to some relaxing music, eat, etc.

visualize that the person is in front of you. Imagine every detail of their appearance as if they’re physically in the room with you. it might take a while to create this image so take your time and breathe through it. don’t rush!

imagine a ball of bright light glowing and expanding from the center of your heart. this is referred to as your heart chakra! feel free to play around with different colors while visualizing. green symbolizes healing energy, pink is the energy of love, and white is cleansing energy. these are the main colors associated with the heart chakra.

next, hold your hand to your heart and imagine your hand absorbing that healing/loving/cleansing energy. at this point, you might physically feel a pulsing or warmness in your hands. make sure you’re still breathing and taking your time!

extend your hand towards the person you’re visualizing and imagine that the energy is flowing through your palms and into their heart center. the pulsing sensation may get stronger at this point! If you don’t feel a pulse, it’s fine. I promise it’s still working!

keep sending the energy until all of that light is drained from your palm!

to close out the session, visualize a waterfall of white energy washing over you and replenishing your energy.

congratulations, you just completed some basic energy work bby! there are so many ways to go about sending energy but this is my favorite way. It’s quick (should take 10-15 minutes) and perfect for beginners!

Witch tip: When you pick up candles from the dollar store, go for ones that come in sealable containers! Once the candle is used up, you can wash out the glass and use it to store herbs in a neat, decorative way 🌷

OH NO I THREW AWAY THE BASIL SEEDS I GOT FOR BASIL'S BIRTHDAY DNSNAKSK

i made a quiz! find out what type of witch you are.

✿❀ baby witch tips ❀✿

☾ do your own research! take everything you hear with a grain of salt.

☾ research all herbs you use wether it be for spells, candles, etc. note which herbs you cannot ingest.

☾ check thrift stores/dollar stores before making an expensive purchase! a lot of my favorite witchy items have been under $5. (of course, shop ethically when you can!)

☾ note which crystals you can charge with sunlight, and those you can charge with the moonlight.

☾ be open to making witchy friends! comparing crafts & tips is a great way to learn and grow.

☾ pendulums can be made on the spot with a needle and some thread.

☾ don’t have an incense holder? grab a jar, and fill it with some himalayan salt. now you do!

☾ don’t forget that you don’t need any fancy tools or expensive ingredients to be a witch; your personal power and intention is always enough.