I have a curious question. I'm familiar to the ways of magick but i'm new as a practicioner of it's ways. Anyway, I was curious as what were some of your first magickal works, if anything interesting happened as you risked yourself into a new art, and what you felt as you preformed your first magickal work. As for myself, I did a simple, rather abridged version, of a circle to clease and consecrate my tools. I felt nervous at first, as I usually do with something new, but I gradually got comfortable as the ritual progressed. Sadly, i had to re-ignite my candle as i preforming; i'm not sure what that may symbolize so any input would be appreciated. But what was your first magickal work?

~Lunos~

It was a few years ago, and I felt as though my family was in danger, my neighbors were afraid to help us, and the police weren't doing anything.  I knew better than to ask that this guy be struck down dead, so I spent a week before going over in my mind why this guy was so angry, what must it have been like growing up in his shoes.  I finally ended up feeling sorry for him, cast a circle, prayed that whatever he sent my way would end up going back to him but not to harm him or his family.  I can tell you that I was very heartfelt when I did it, but if there are standards to casting a circle , I'm sure that I was well below them.  But this guy, he lost his family, friends, and the police are now looking for him. Now, whenever I cast a circle, (still trying to do my best there), I just pray, ask for guidance, and generally feel an inside cleaning.  
I guess, what I'm trying to say, is I am also so new at this and don't know a whole lot but I would think it is your intentions that matters, not a dud candle.  Would love to have some comments, ideas from some more experienced practicioners.
                                                           marigold

My first "SUCCESSFUL" (if you call it that) magick was about 15 or so years ago.  I was a single mom living in a basement apt.  I was interested in a young divorcee that was a friend of a friend, but he didn't seem too interested in me.  Without really knowing much, I read about a spell in a book that told me to place my intention into powdered chamomile and sprinkle it over my door step with a few words.  So I did, intending for him to come and visit me.  Within a couple of hours, he did, indeed come over to my house, alone, with a movie he wanted to watch.  He didn't know me very well and had only been to my home one time with a mutual friend, so I was more than a little shocked that he would actually come to my home, especially without an invitation.  However, he was very much into the martial arts, and the movie he brought was just that... so not me.   It was all very awkward, and afterward, I wasn't too interested.  He wasn't my type after all and nothing ended up coming out of it.  So, just be careful what you intend.   You may end up turning into the toad. kissfrog

LOL!!  Wow, Seamonster, that would be awkward.  I'll be sure to be very cautious in my work. Thanx for the tip!

This is a very good idea for a forum, Lunos!

Let's see, my first magical working...

Okay, I think I have it.  I was is my first graduate school about to graduate.  I had decided I wanted to be a librarian, which means I needed to get my Masters in Library Science.  I had just dealt with a bout of very serious family problems that almost broke me emotionally.  I had lost my graduate assistantship when I graduated, so I had no job and was not in a good way financially.  

For many years, I had been of the uber-science minded and would have argued that magic was nothing more than a ritual to cultivate psychological changes.  By this time, though, I was desperate and at my wit's end, so I was willing to try anything.

I set up an altar in my bedroom and caste a spell basically pleading with the Divine to just, well,  help me.  I set up a basic witch altar, with the ritual tools and elements associated with the four corners. I used a combination of candle, color, and herb magic.   I did everything in terms of cleansing and symbolism textbook perfect, if there is such a thing in witchcraft.  I was completely foreign to magic, so I studied as many sources as I could find, which is actually how I was brought here.  Since most of the rituals I found were Wiccan-ish, I used those.  It's really funny and amazing the magic worked when I look back, as I was treating magic as a chemistry experiment rather than a prayer or extension of will.      

This is when I learned that, in my magic at least, I get what I need, not necessarily what I want.  Like most people, I thought money would solve my problems, so I always made a point to ask for it.  I did not get money, but my spell worked out in that I was accepted to a program and had the support I needed to move and just enough money to make it.

Many times since then, I have doubted magic, but I have to admit from the present looking back, I've had excellent results.  I really don't use the Wiccan type altars and associations anymore; I've tailored my magic to my own person foundations.  I suppose I am very fortunate in that when I caste a spell, the Divine is compassionate enough to recognize and provide what I need, not what I want.  I have slowly learned to trust this Divine wisdom, even though at the time is can be superbly frustrating.

Great idea Lunos!  Very interesting posts here!

I only work magick when I have exhausted every other means of resolving a problem.  My first magickal working was a banishing (I know, as I look back and think of all the things that could have gone wrong, I don't think I'd have the courage to do it again).

My daughter had a best friend who was straight from hell, they were both 14/15 years old, boy crazy, and way too niave.  The friend had a single mother(?) who was determined to prove that she was hip or cool or whatever and provided no boundaries or rules for this girl.  Needless to say, my daughter thought the two of them were just the coolest people ever.  Well, it started out with little white lies, then bigger lies, then stealing money from me, sneaking out at night to cruise around with much older boys, trouble at school, etc, etc, etc.  I contacted this girl's mother repeatedly and stated the problems.  Eventually she refused to talk to me.  She was the type to deny that her daughter would ever be involved in any wrongdoing (even when the police brought these two home after being in a fender bender with these older boys after sneaking out in the middle of the night!!)  I tried being tough, setting strict consequences, etc, but if you knew my daughter you would know that the harder you restrict, the more devious and hare-brained she becomes.  The friend was impossible to get rid of, even when I confiscated my daughter's cell phone, unplugged her from internet - you mothers know the drill, and they were together in school when they weren't skipping.  

Well, can you think of anything more dangerous than a frustrated mother who feels her child is in danger?  I found an old spell in a book, and collected the necessary items (a dead fly, some cobwebs, threads from the friend's clothing, other nasty stuff).  I didn't strictly follow any tradition, the spell in the book provided an outline and I just went with what felt right for me.  I had more intent poured into that spell than I think I could ever muster.  I went at that spell with a determination I didn't realize I had inside me, but I did ask that this friend just go away - not be blown into a billion teeny tiny pieces as I had often fantasized.  Within a few days my daughter and this friend had a huge fight and never spoke to one another again.  My daughter later revealed she was actually relieved when this friendship ended.  I was awed and alittle frightened by the power that I experienced from this whole thing.

On the "be careful what you wish for" note I did magick years ago asking for "wisdom".  I would caution anyone not to ask for something so vague.  I had that tingly, sparky feeling that my magick was being listened to by the divine and eagerly anticipated all this wonderful wisdom just coming to me and me being wise and all-knowing.  Ha, ha, ha.  Silly me.   I went through about three or four years of trials and problems and crisises and challenges until my friends jokingly referred to me as "Job" from the bible.  Am I wiser now?  You bet!  Would I ask for something so foolish again?  Not on your life!

I tend not to be so formal with things... the only time I've ever actually cast a circle and tried to do a real formal magick I was trying to invite my dog to be my familiar... she sneezed at me so hard she blew one of the candles out, turned on her heel so fast her tail knocked them over, then ran from the room.  She can't tell me "I don't want to be a part of this!!" much clearer than that.  
Other than that, I think the first time I did anything magical, I went and sat in the forest weeping because I'd just learned that an aunt I was very close to had breast cancer again.  I sat still on an old log until I felt like there was someone behind me.  there wasn't a real person, taffy would have gone beserk.  but she did stare off in that direction like she was seeing something.  I didn't turn around just asked that she come through it, or failing that, that she wouldn't have to suffer long.  She went into remission, but we knew her chances weren't great, it was the second time she had breast cancer... Soon she had cancer in her liver.  she had an easy time of it though, tired, chemo wiped her out all the time, but relatively free from pain.  She stayed long enough to spend christmas with her daughter, then was gone by the 2nd week of January.  
Usually I work magic in the kitchen.  start off by cleaning everything top to bottom, then light a candle and say something like "I'm baking cookies for ______ who is sick, let them give her the strenght to have a speedy recovery" or something like that.

The first thing I remember doing on my own though: Smudging my cats and dog for protection.  They seemed to like it.

Where any of you guys nervous when you first started, because I know I was. I was nervous to the point I was practically speechless when I was trying to welcome the guardians.    Thankfully I was alone so I didn't humiliate myself, one of the wonderful pluses on being a solitary.  

Its natural to be nervous the first few times.  I felt like I was "pretending" or "playing at.." when I first did it, but it does become more natural.  And you will see that you customize it to your own comfort level.  For me, I prefer doing anything solitary, so I adjust everything as it works for me, and it does work for me.  Don't feel like you have to do everything "by the book".  Goddess is listening no matter how you do it.

Gah, you bet, I still at times feel silly for what Im doing, but other times I feel so cool about it.  It just takes time ^_^

Now that you guys mention it, the nervousness and playing pretend feeling are big obstacles.  I think it is because many of us seem to have come to witchcraft as adults as opposed to adolescents.  

Being Jewish, I was very nervous when I started practicing because the first of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt have no G-d before me."  Everything I was reading when I start practicing focused on multiple gods and goddesses, so this made me very nervous.  I've heard Christians say that the Ten Commandments are not hierarchical, but they are in Judaism, and worshiping the one G-d is at the top.  On top of that, you are never supposed to personify G-d, which most types of witchcraft do heavily.  Thankfully, there are all types of magical systems indigenous to my religion, and the nature of the Divine is overall more dynamic when not personified, which is helpful in magic.

I have to admit that I still feel like I am playing pretend sometimes.  I stay in the broom closet in part because I am just not comfortable talking about practicing magic.  It's a difficult thing to explain your beliefs to other people when you have a difficult time explaining these beliefs to yourself.  I think one of the drawbacks to being a broom closet solitary practitioner is that you do not have the emotional support from coven members or a mentor.

Mine was a little amulet bag full of cat fur, stones and herbs that I energized during a lunar eclipse.  My son and his fiancee had a wild acting cat that tore through their apartment, and scratched up their furniture, terrorized their other cat, and they couldn't calm him down.  I made this little bag and told them to put it under the place where their wild kitty slept.  They did this, and he calmed right down, and never gave them anymore trouble (until they moved and lost the amulet bag)  Even after that, though, he was never as troublesome as he had been before I "witched" him.

The first spell I ever did was a protection spell for my self. I was having major problems with this co-worker of mine. He would always go out of his way to bug me. I let it go for a very long time then one day he threatened me and I had enough. I filed sexual harassment on him and he was fired. He was so angry at me that he was stalking me at work, trying to call and find out when I worked next ect. I put up my circle and cast this spell. It worked right then. I never saw him again at work and the only mention of him after that was months later when another co-worker said he was still trying to get my number to bug me, but nothing ever came of it, and I've never seen him again.

I felt a little odd putting up my circle. I wasn't to sure that I'd done it right and I had no fixed place to do the spell. I used my coffee table. While I was working the spell, it felt very natural. Well it did work out as I wanted it. So it's all good.

I found some semblance of my path after over 20 years in the Catholic church, so the whole process of rearranging morale to be my own was nervewracking and, critical as I am, I questioned every step of it until each new arrangement sat right within me.  I work with ritual magick very, very rarely, but I do moon meditations outside pretty often. It was quite a process even settling into my own small backyard in the city at night - neighbors, skunks, streetlights, my own chaotic head, lots of worries that I had to settle first. I crafted a moonstone headdress, and the first night I decided to try it out I was extremely nervous. Really the only thing that kept me moving forward was that I knew the moon, she's my longest standing and best friend, so I decided this was an ok thing to do and proceeded. I put my headdress on and began to quiet myself, breathing, trancing, awestruck at the surrealness of the atmosphere of my neighborhood. Settling into my stillness, observing my own thought processes, and receiving information from deep within, the air was still, the moon bright, everything lit in twilight.  I decided it was time to ask the everything a question, ready to listen to subtle answers on wisps of wind.  I took a deep breath and asked my question, opened myself up to beautiful inspiration, and, listening quiety and intently, received the most, startling, offensive, electrifying zap from my neighbor's bug zapper mutilating a junebug  

It scared the shit out of me. I think I ran back into my house.

The answer that came along with it though did eventually lead to information found in my waking life.