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Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:57 pm
by Shireside
Hey everyone, I'm pretty much new blood...not just to the community here, but also to the active witching aspect of my life. I've been quite comfortable in the sandbox of LEARNING ALL THE THINGS for a good many years now, and figured it was beyond high time I got off my rear and actually put some of what I've come to understand in the realm of theory into actual practice.

Spellcasting! Fun! Except...it wasn't.

Simple financial magic to address a time of need. I know the methods I employed were objectively fine, but when it came down to the REALLY important bits, I was all over the place. The results of any meditations and 'getting-in-the-zone' I had sunk into prior to the work were pretty much thrown out the window the moment a flame was lit. From start to finish, my head was on a crazed treadmill of counter-productivity, doubting and second-guessing every minor detail that occurred to me. By the end of it, the deed was done, and I'd wager all I got out of the "working" was a burnt-up stub of a candle and sugar all over my bedroom floor.

I'm a paranoid person by nature, and while family and friends click with me well enough despite my neurosis, I get the feeling that spellcraft is a lot less likely to work for you when your confidence and will have all the sound integrity of a $5.00 folding chair. Might any of you fine folks have experience with overcoming performance butterflies on overdrive? Any nuggets of advice would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Advice for spellcasting anxiety?

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:27 pm
by SpiritTalker
I think many of us have had similar first-flight experiences. We come at our early spells full of headology and little left over from the gut/heart, and pfft! Getting in the zone is laughable. it's not like we grew up with the certainty of crafting and taking the effects for granted...until we see it working...and we trust the system.

Doubts don't crash a spell as long as there was just a moment during the working when we knew it was a thing already accomplished. That tiny moment is the seed from which success sprouts, and we trust the system.

Reducing distractions helps. There's no rule that says all the steps to a spell have to be done in the same sitting. Do all the altar set up and messy prep work ahead of time, like candle oiling, dusting with empowered, powdered herbs and even charging with intent. (It's the same idea as buying a pre-charged and fully prepped spell.) Leave the candle(s) in your work area and forget about it. Wash your hands, tidy up the mess you made, and watch a video or pull weeds in the garden.

Then return to finish the spell. It's show-time! Ground and center in the gut. Cast a working circle (if you do), light the candle and visualize the goal while gazing at the flame. Put your back into it. Pour your energy into it and release the spell into the ethers. All the steps will have been completed and the job is done. Trust the system.

To my thinking a working circle is informal. There's no ritual, just a standard spritz & fume, and lay the energy down. Spritzing with salted water (which you already have prepared) & fuming with an incense stick introduces the 4 elements and cleanses the space at the same time. Then stand in the middle and gather your self, pulling your power into your gut. This can really focus the mind into a trance-like hypnosis if you want to. Always ground the residual energy when you're done with the spell.

Breaking a spell into prep-and-charge, and then visualizing and letting go, can make things less stressful. All the headology is in the preparation.

Re: Spellcrafting anxieties

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:39 pm
by Shireside
Thank you for your reply, SpiritTalker. There's a lot of wisdom in breaking a working up into parts like that. You got me to thinking...a good amount of all that power-dissing likely stemmed from a general sense of unpreparedness. Feeling like I fumbled an important bit of prep work did a lot to dismantle my confidence throughout the working, and it just snowballed until the end.

Back in school, I could never write a decent essay without first making an outline to go by. I never thought of treating spellcraft in much the same way, and I'm actually pretty surprised that I've never caught a whiff of this line of thinking in all the years I've spent digging through witching resources.

Thank you for your advice, and also for sharing your way of circle-casting! I like the idea of artful and complex ritual, but really, all that is probably a bit much for the daily works, and would just give me more details to over-analyze. I'll try to take it easy and be less critical of myself going forward. This weekend, it's take 2!

Re: Spellcrafting anxieties

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:18 am
by SpiritTalker
I have to keep the procedures manageable because the monkeys run amok in my mind, chattering like an itty bitty committee. Your outline seemes like it would take out the guess work and doubt, and that's the point. :)

Re: Spellcrafting anxieties

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:25 am
by Firebird
Oi... the committee !! They are noisy :evilwitch:

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:25 pm
by Pallando
You have paralysis by analysis.

Next time FORGET everyone else's rules and just be majical.... just flow.

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:29 pm
by Shireside
Yass. It ought to be like speaking a foreign language, right? You don't think about the grammar and syntax when you're trying to communicate, just speak and let it flow. ...With practice and experience, the foreign language becomes just about as easeful as the native tongue.

A sense of humor helps. The tequila method might lend agreeable results. :flyingwitch:

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:15 pm
by Firebird
I find when I let it flow from my heart, the words that come out (in a solitary situation) astound even myself. Like, whaaaaa...? where did that come from, wish I had a tape recording many times because I never can recall the words exactly as they came out of my mouth.
When I practice, plan and have others present, somehow that great creativity doesn't always show up :|
Bb, FF

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:47 pm
by SnowCat
I usually keep mine simple, and start with declaring that the only acceptable outcome is the one that I want. It usually works.

Snow

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:28 pm
by Shekinah
I am very reluctant to cast spells remembering in the universe and in all laws of physics nothing is free. Sooner or later the spell caster must pay an unknown consequence for manipulation of probabilities. Also we are bound by sacred Rede to harm none, are we wise enough to see far enough in deep time to evaluate all potential repercussions of our spell?

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:40 pm
by Shireside
That's some pretty limiting dogma! No sacred Rede requiring such foresight to speak of, in my way of it. Else I'd definitely get nothing done.

Re: Advice for my spellcrafting anxieties?

Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:35 pm
by SnowCat
Shekinah wrote:I am very reluctant to cast spells remembering in the universe and in all laws of physics nothing is free. Sooner or later the spell caster must pay an unknown consequence for manipulation of probabilities. Also we are bound by sacred Rede to harm none, are we wise enough to see far enough in deep time to evaluate all potential repercussions of our spell?
Those of us who subscribe to the Rede, are not necessarily bound by it. One can do spellwork toward a positive outcome, without following a particular established path.

Snow