Why Your Magick Doesn't Work: State of Mind and Intentions
by AmberSkyfire
http://www.witch-crafted.com/rant.htm#5

Perhaps this sounds familiar to you: "Ohmigod! There is this awesome guy who goes to my school and he is sooo f-y-n-e! Can you give me a spell to make him like me?" I am bombarded every day with letters from people, usually teenagers who have the pre-conceived notion that magick is just like what you see on television and in the moves. Young people write with visions of Harry Potter and The Craft. Magick to them is glamorous and exciting and seems the perfect escape from real life. Most imagine themselves performing spells, shooting fire from their fingertips, floating through the air, and extinguishing candles with a thought. Who hasn't come into witchcraft thinking to impress their friends or scare people they don't like or even getting rich and winning the lover of their dreams?
Witchcraft does not work this way. This is the first and most important that everyone needs to understand. Magick is not like a switch. You cannot turn it on and turn it off. It isn't instantaneous and the effects are not usually very exciting.
Just stop a moment and calm down. Imaging yourself in a forest within a circle of stones. You hear birds singing. You recognize the mating calls of the cardinal and the thrush. You hear a deer walking in the silence. You can feel the trees breathing. You sit cross-legged as you cut herbs with a knife and chant lowly, thanking the forest for its abundance. You understand its language and the language of the sun and the wind. You are curious and at peace. You finally understand.
This is the reality of witchcraft. It is a religion of discipline, education, love, wonder, peace, and nature. It is not what you see on television. That does not exist. Real magick is not flashy. It is not evil. It is not easy and it is not a game.
Witchcraft teaches discipline and how to work and move with nature. It teaches you to love and trust yourself. It teaches peace and inner harmony. Witchcraft teaches the importance of the earth and of morality. it teaches you how to control yourself and find your soul. It teaches you to listen, be silent, and learn, and to be independent and respectful of yourself and of nature. It is the beginning of all humanity. It is a release from greed, selfishness, hate, loneliness, and lies. It is true magick and it can only work when you can learn to love and trust yourself and see through your own greed to that which is real.
The first thing you must do is look inside yourself and find out who you really are. You do not want to believe what you are thinking or doing is wrong, but there are things that you must realize and understand. Keep a journal throughout your studies in witchcraft. It can be a journal or diary or just a spiral notebook. Whatever it is, you should write in it everything that witchcraft is to you. You will be surprised at how much you have changed in only a year. For your first entry, write what you think that witchcraft is now and what you want to get out of it. Why do you want to be a witch? What is it that you really want to do and why? Next, go back and try to find what is wrong with what you want. Try very hard to judge yourself harshly. What is greedy about what you want? Do you want to impress people or your friends with it? Do you want to do it because it is evil or you want to hurt someone? Do you want money, love, or beauty? Do you want power or to control another person in any way? These are a few ideas that will prevent your magick from working. Telling others about what you do will also keep magick from working. It is important to understand that magick is very private, spiritual, and sacred. Speaking of it will destroy it.
The next most important thing about magick is spirituality. Magick is within the person, not within their words or their tools. Words and tools are used to direct power and form it into something that you can use. The real power is in the body and the mind. Magick must have faith behind it . It does not matter what your religion is, but you must believe something. Religion gives strength to the mind, the body, the soul, and to magick. Magick is born in a sacred space at a sacred time. Negative feelings and desires destroy the effects of magick. In order for it to work, you must treat it with respect and understanding and hold it as sacred as your own life.
Because witches hold magick in such high regard, you will never hear a true witch speaking openly about what they do. This is a sure way to tell a true witch from what we call "media-witch wannabes." These are people who have no true power in the craft, who are only interested in getting attention and who treat the craft as a fad that they usually grow out of. Witches don't wear all black or act out openly about their religion in public. Sometimes others want to know about the craft and what we do. It is ok to inform others to a certain extent, but it is not a good idea to tell others that you perform spells. I play it very safe when others ask me about my religion. I tell the truth, but I don't use words like "witch" or "spells." I simply say that I practice a nature-based religion that gives reverence to nature and to the earth. My pentacle represents the five elements which are sacred to me. I do not worship or believe in the devil. Saying good things about what I do calms other's fears about me and allows them to better understand what I do without scaring them with words (such as "witch") that hey believe have negative meanings. Any negativity that a person feels toward you will affect your magick. This negative energy is also known as "the evil eye."
Always remember to give reverence to your religion and treat what you do as holy or sacred. The more sacred a person's beliefs and rituals, the more power they hold. Magick is not to be used to get rich, get a new car, or make someone like you. Any negative magick such as magick done for greed or to control someone will always turn out horribly if it even works at all. Know your intentions and the laws of karma an strive to understand yourself and what you truly believe.

Very well written LE. You're definately right about the media wanna be witches. I once made the mistake of telling a friend about my religion and he told me I was into a "fad that 12 year olds do", even though he had no clue as to what it is that I truely believe. Some people expect a witch to have the dark makeup and black outfits and be all superstitious, haha, it's funny, but they're just misinformed and when people see my light brown hair and unintimidating face they seem confused. I agree with what you said about negative feelings and desires ruining magick, I think that magick is truely a thing created by positivity and good intentions.
Have you ever published any of your writings anywhere other than PaganLiving? You should, you write very well.

Hi Jennamoon,

Thank you for your kind words, but I did not write the above article. I do write quite a few of the BOS artilces on herbs and healing, but when another writing is represented, I always quote sources and get persmission to use the article.

Thanks again for your wonderful support and it's good to see you here on the boards!

Blessings Bright and Dark,

Hehe well I feel silly now, thats what you get for disregarding the by "Amber Skyfire" note :-p. And your welcome. I love this group, its very diverse and interesting.