None of my Spells Work. Can Anyone Help?

[jittertat]

I've heard that when a spell doesn't work after 28 days, you should "re-address" it and fix it.

See, the thing is, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Virtually all but one spell has no manifested, and even when I re-address the situation, it tends not to work. Can anyone suggest what might be the top reasons for why a spell might not work? My spells tend to go like this:

Trace the area I'm working in with my wand. Before this, I had to use a feather, but recently, I found a drumstick with its head broken off. My wand is about 12", with a quartz crystal on the top. I have no runes or anything inscribed on it, if that's of any use to you. I learned to cleanse and consecrate by dipping the wand's head and tail in some salt water and saying, "I cleanse this tool in the name of the God and Goddess."

Light green candle, say "All hail the guardians of the watchtower of the north, and the element of earth. I invite you to my circle, and bid you hail and welcome." Or, for most of my spells when I want to hurry the circle casting along, "Hail and welcome, element of earth." I repeat this process word for word for the other three elements, removing "north" and "earth" and replacing them with "East, south and west" and "air, fire and water". Or, in the shorthand version, "Hail and welcome, element of air/fire/water". I use yellow for air, red for fire, and blue for water. All are scented.

Etch any sigils, symbols, any data at all, onto the candle. (These are always scented Yankee Candles. One time, it was a scented red pillar candle that I lit every night until it burned down. I used it in a love spell, however I think the fact that red is a colour of lust is what halted the spell.)

Light up some incense corresponding to the spell. As of recent, I use charcoal, a zippo lighter, and some herbs, either naturally grown, or bought from a supermarket in a little glass bottle - the type used for seasoning food.)

Anoint the candle with oil.

Place a corresponding gemstone next to the candle so that it's touching the candle.

Light the candle.

Say any incantation I've chosen to say. Normally I don't use any, I just as something as I light the candle. For example, "I light this candle so that X's operation may go well and be successful." (The time I did this spell, the operation was postponed four times. I got really frustrated and kept casting the spell. I gave up the fourth time after it was postponed.) My "statements" don't often rhyme.

The only successful spell I have done has utilised this: I put a circle of paprika around the candle, because I heard somewhere that paprika caused fast action. The spell didn't work for me, now that I think about it, but I was casting with a friend, who received the benefit of the spell.

I used to hold my hands around the candle flame and visualise my intent, and warm my hands up over the flame. Now though, I'd usually just blow out the candles for the elements of earth, air, fire and water, saying "thank you, element of X, hail and farewell." If I have lit candles for the god and goddess, I will say "Thank you, Great (Father) God, for being present at my circle and allowing me to conduct this spell. I bid you hail and farewell. Merry part." I blow out the candle, and say "Blessed Be". The process is repeated for the Goddess, who I use the exact same words for, except I replace "God" with "Goddess" and "father" with "mother". Then I'm not too sure at this point. Sometimes I blow out the spell candle and put it away, or I'll blow it out, put it away and relight it later without going through the whole ritual, until it's completely burned out.

Please help me figure out where I'm going wrong. I'm relatively new to witchcraft, but I've tried casting lots of spells corresponding with the moon phase - and even the day of the week! But only that one spell has ever worked, and it was for a friend. I have been practising witchcraft since August the 27th. (I marked my Year and a Day as August 28th.) I do not belong to a coven, and haven't been initiated by a priest or priestess. I practice witchcraft alone and sometimes in a group. Please, if any information here jumps out at you as a reason why my spells don't work, let me know so I can have some peace of mind, and learn from my mistakes. Thank you.

[shadowx]

well what are your spells trying to do?

Magick has its limits...

[jittertat]

well what are your spells trying to do?

Magick has its limits...

I've tried lots and lots of very simple spells, but none of them have worked.

For example, a protection spell I cast for my nephew before he had to get an operation didn't work at all, as the operation was postponed four times. A spell I tried to draw a boyfriend to me never showed any results whatsoever, a spell I cast with a friend on two other friends utilising a black candle, some lavender and a black onyx, designed to give them peace of mind over the mental pains they'd been going through didn't work. (Well, I cast it on three people, but I didn't know who the third person was. My friend wrote her name on the page we were using. I hqad no clue what was ailing her, or what to visualise when the page was burning. Also, I intended to have the candle rest in a bowl filled with water, black onyx, and lavender, and let the candle burn below the water, and get extinguished. However, my friend decided he had to go, and blew the candle out before it reached the water. Could the fact that the design of the spell changed have affected it?) and a spell to make my neighbour stop harrassing and hurting my dad didn't work, neither did the spell I did to make him move house, or the spell to bring legal justice to him, as he got out of court scott-free and tonight he blocked our door with a pile-up of snow. I cast a spell to simply make him lose interest in us, but that never worked either.

I did a spell to pass my physics test, which I'm still waiting on the results of, so if I get a good grade, I suppose that spell has worked.

I have tried a few money spells, but only the one I mentioned in my first post has worked. I don't want to lose faith, because witchcraft has always fascinated me, and I really really wish to learn how to effectively practice witchcraft, but none of my spells, bar one, and maybe the test spell (we'll see how it goes.) have ever worked.

[shadowx]

Protection spell:
Who is to say it didnt work? Was he harmed? doesnt sound like he was at all.

As for the boyfriend he wont just knock at your door...

The spell to give peace of mind may well have been affected by him leaving. with magick it isnt what you say or do or what you burn, it is what you are focussing on, what you are feeling and what you are wanting to happen, since someone left early their focus was gone as was their energy hence the spell would have been affected. Not to mention that if i tell you not to think of a pink cat.... You think of a pink cat, if you do a spell to stop a person thinking negative things etc... and they are involved in the casting.... You see my point.

AS for making your neighbour move, why would he move? You need to give him a reason, kill a relative, burn down his house, assault him in the street. Otherwise he is comfortable there.

If he is blocking your door then you need to hurt him. Physically.

Passing a test relies on your knowledge, magick can not give you knowledge. It may help but it wont make you pass a test when you dont have the required knowledge.

Money spells too need a route of getting money to you. How did you expect the money to arrive? It wont rain coins nor snow notes, you wont win the lottery through magickm get a job, if you have one then get a better paid one. Magick can help you to a degree there but it cant make money for you, you must earn it, possibly with the aid of magick but not relying on it.

[jittertat]

Protection spell:
Who is to say it didnt work? Was he harmed? doesnt sound like he was at all.

As for the boyfriend he wont just knock at your door...

The spell to give peace of mind may well have been affected by him leaving. with magick it isnt what you say or do or what you burn, it is what you are focussing on, what you are feeling and what you are wanting to happen, since someone left early their focus was gone as was their energy hence the spell would have been affected. Not to mention that if i tell you not to think of a pink cat.... You think of a pink cat, if you do a spell to stop a person thinking negative things etc... and they are involved in the casting.... You see my point.

AS for making your neighbour move, why would he move? You need to give him a reason, kill a relative, burn down his house, assault him in the street. Otherwise he is comfortable there.

If he is blocking your door then you need to hurt him. Physically.

Passing a test relies on your knowledge, magick can not give you knowledge. It may help but it wont make you pass a test when you dont have the required knowledge.

Money spells too need a route of getting money to you. How did you expect the money to arrive? It wont rain coins nor snow notes, you wont win the lottery through magickm get a job, if you have one then get a better paid one. Magick can help you to a degree there but it cant make money for you, you must earn it, possibly with the aid of magick but not relying on it.

Well, the 'boyfriend' spell seems to have failed. Oh, and it was my friend and I casting a spell on three other friends. My friend left the circle, but we weren't casting for him. I revised for the physics test and just needed a morale boost from a spell. I still don't know the result. My nieghbour WANTS to move. I should've clarified. He phoned the housing association, but we haven't heard anything back from them. they're going to tell us as well as him when he moves. The only one in my list that seems to have worked in some twisted sort of way was the protection spell, as he wasn't harmed, but it was more of a blessing or healing spell than a protection one. I suppose, the operation went well, so the protection was there... They also noted that the operation fixed the shape of his skull, which was something they didn't expect to happen...

[Traumwandlerin]

You don't need to be initiated, and you aren't studying witchcraft very long. This an year and a day guidline is actually there for many reason. One is to see if you are serious, another is to be, so you can see the whole year in it's circle, but the main reason is because witchcraft takes time to learn

Joining a forum as this one is a good start. You are reading up things here, real things, practice, not only reading books. Which books did you read by the way, there are many stupid and wrong books out there.

If you believe magick is a fast tool everyone can use to make an instant perfect life or solve problems without working, it's not. It's a powerful tool for the trained ones, mostly works on the subconcious level, emotions, energies and the like, with almost no effects in the physical world, even if there are links between both.

So read up, that's a good start. Practice meditation, trancing or other different states of mind.

[jittertat]

You don't need to be initiated, and you aren't studying witchcraft very long. This an year and a day guidline is actually there for many reason. One is to see if you are serious, another is to be, so you can see the whole year in it's circle, but the main reason is because witchcraft takes time to learn

Joining a forum as this one is a good start. You are reading up things here, real things, practice, not only reading books. Which books did you read by the way, there are many stupid and wrong books out there.

If you believe magick is a fast tool everyone can use to make an instant perfect life or solve problems without working, it's not. It's a powerful tool for the trained ones, mostly works on the subconcious level, emotions, energies and the like, with almost no effects in the physical world, even if there are links between both.

So read up, that's a good start. Practice meditation, trancing or other different states of mind.

I have read Scott Cunningham's "Wicca", Silver Ravenwolf's "Book of Shadows for the New Generation" (which was read with a pinch of salt. Ok, a BUCKET of salt. I don't like her hatred of Christianity, nor do I like how she makes people believe real witches do bla bla bla. For example, she says "Real witches do NOT worship satan." even though Satanists may practice witchcraft and worship Satan. She does, however, provide some useful information, such as sigils.) I've read The Real Witch's Handbook, although it contains little information on spells, and more on the Wheel of the Year. However, it's an excellent book to have when an upcoming Esbat calls for celebration. Lastly, I've read Judika Iles' Elemental Encyclopedia of 5000 spells. Well, of course, not all of it. I have checked out some correspondences and some of the hints etc throughout the book. It hasn't proved to be too handy. Most of the information I now know comes from Youtube videos and threads on 4Chan's paranormal board. Which, might I add, gives a lot of criticism to Wicca, and calls it fake all the time.

If I could get some videos of spells being cast by someone (like someone actually casting the spell themselves), I think it would help me greatly. However, there are actually no videos like this on the internet at all. Maybe a few rites, esbats, and a few examples on HOW to do a spell, but I've yet to see a spell being cast on camera.

I intend to practice Wicca for as long as I can. (I'm a teenager, and my parents are catholic. They know I practice Wicca, but they think it's "white witchcraft". I haven't told them that it's a religion, but they're fine with doing spells that are beneficial, i.e. trying to get my neighbour to move (which didn't work) or healing spells. However, if I can, I intend to reach the year and a day and beyond.

[Traumwandlerin]

Just don't rush. Sometimes it's hard to live with catholic parents in the same house, but of course someday you will live on your own.

You wouldn't have fun watching me casting a spell. Mostly I just lie flat on the ground and that's it. Only sometimes it's a real show, but I'm just doing weird stuff and talking gibberish. But surely you can find videos on youtube

[jittertat]

Just don't rush. Sometimes it's hard to live with catholic parents in the same house, but of course someday you will live on your own.

You wouldn't have fun watching me casting a spell. Mostly I just lie flat on the ground and that's it. Only sometimes it's a real show, but I'm just doing weird stuff and talking gibberish. But surely you can find videos on youtube

YouTube? Spell videos? I lol'd. xD No, but seriously, I think it's got something to do with the belief that if you tell someone your wish it doesn't come true, or something like that. I saw a few videos of Goetia magic being performed, but Goetia isn't my cup of tea. Good and Evil and all that. I prefer simple spells to bring £20 to my pocket for a present, or to bring health to somebody with a wee cold, something like that. :L I think there was one guy I came across that said he'd put up some videos. I'll check now. It would make it easier if I see how other people who actually get results practice witchcraft.

[shadowx]

Satanists dont worship satan. They dont believe any god or devil exists at all.

as you are a newcomer you need to understand that wicca is NOT witchcraft. I am not wiccan, Traumwandlerin is not wiccan and neither are many people here.

Magick is not structured. no-one can tell you how to do a spell since there are no instructions. It would be like telling someone how to write a song. Yes you can say "it should have some rhyme and rhythm" but that's it. Same goes for witchcraft. To do a "spell" you just concentrate and send out your energy. Candles, incense, fires etc... are just fakery like an actor uses a fake sword to slay a fake enemy the candles and such dont do anything at all. All they do is put you in the right frame of mine. and like Traumwandlerin said, you can do that just sitting or lying down.

Wicca is a structured religion, it is not witchcraft and it is not paganism. I am a pagan, not a wiccan and frankly there is a MASSIVE difference like that of a single bush Vs the rainforest. If you are new to paganism then you really need to look at all paths, wicca is tiny and teaches all the wrong things for a newcomer.

Watching someone else cast a spell is useless, spells are done with energy and you cant see energy so you wont see someone doing a spell, all you will see is someone saying silly things and lighting candles and that isnt spellwork

[JuniperBerry]

It sounds like the surgery protection spell went well.

Are you setting a time frame for when your spells work? Or did you just vaguely ask for a boyfriend, leaving it open to manifest in five or ten years? This is also directed at the neighbor moving spell. You should be specific about when you want these things to occur.

It sounds like the justice spell worked but, maybe the justice he truly deserved (none) isn't the justice you think he does. Which isn't what you asked for.

Normally when you do a candle spell you don't blow it out but let it burn out naturally. Interrupting it also interrupts the dispersal of the energy and intent, instead of a nice natural fade into manifestation.

[jittertat]

It sounds like the surgery protection spell went well.

Are you setting a time frame for when your spells work? Or did you just vaguely ask for a boyfriend, leaving it open to manifest in five or ten years? This is also directed at the neighbor moving spell. You should be specific about when you want these things to occur.

It sounds like the justice spell worked but, maybe the justice he truly deserved (none) isn't the justice you think he does. Which isn't what you asked for.

Normally when you do a candle spell you don't blow it out but let it burn out naturally. Interrupting it also interrupts the dispersal of the energy and intent, instead of a nice natural fade into manifestation.

What do you suggest for a "time-frame"? For example, cast the spell and say "He will come within the month"? Or "He will come on February the 28th, 2010"? Or is it down to judgment? I would normally write a spell where I would have most of it rhyme, and leave out any variables (such as age, or height, etc.), and make up a rhyme such as, "I pass this page through the fire / With the qualities that I desire." So that I don't have to write a spell for every time I want to change the qualities of the outcome. It also means I don't have to write it in my Book of Shadows where it might be read. In destroying it, it's safer and only I know what was written on it.

Also, is it essential to let the candle burn down? I buy Yankee candles, and I really need to close the circle and leave the room to get dinner, use the bathroom, get a drink, etc. I wouldn't possibly be able to let them burn the whole way down. They're quite thick, but I intend to start buying taper candles. There's something about them, I don;t know what, that makes them seem appropriate for spellcasting. I also would be careful about burning thick or big candles like this due to that love spell I had cast. The candle was thick, and I left the room with the intention of letting it burn down the whole way... When I came back, my whole altar was covered in red candlewax. It diluted my elemental quarter candles. It was quite a painful experience to have to undo... I know some people use those little tealights, but you can't get coloured tealights where I live too often, and I find that they're counterproductive for magic... I don;t know why, they just don't seem "grand" enough to keep my focus.

[JuniperBerry]

The time frame is up to you, but I wouldn't make it longer than six months, especially wrt the neighbor situation. There's alot that goes into moving and it would be hard to 'force' him into it immediately. Though, I think the intent of your spells is sort of an issue as well. First, you shouldn't ask for specific qualities in a boyfriend. That guy could show up and then you might realize it's not what you wanted after all. Why don't you simply cast for a person to come into your life that will appreciate you and care for you and that will be one of your closest friends. No offense, but this isn't Practical Magic, and you can't order up a true love, you know? With the neighbor, it would be better to cast for a peaceful resolution, or a bridge of understanding, rather than to have him disappear. Magic has an interesting way of working to make a person stronger and more open... it's almost like a process of enlightenment, or a stage of the brahman; you tend to grow as a person, transcend your normal way of thinking, become more intune with the way the universe wants to work and how you work with it, rather than magically changing things because you're a witch. The Universe ( which is a generic name that has many philosophic precepts in other traditions) would rather you resolve the issue with the neighbor to learn something rather than to make it go away.

Also, when you cast a spell for a man to have the qualities that you want- are you expecting the Universe or energies to just know what you mean and read your mind, or is there some sort of focus point through word or symbol that you're using?

Yes, it is essential that you let the candle burn down. Don't use the Yankee Candles anymore, use taper candles. You can use the other ones for ritual circle casting, but the tapers are best for candle magic. Candle magic doesn't have to be kept within a circle. The circle is there to hold the energy and intent that you build until you send it out. That's also what the candle does so having a circle around it at the same time is a bit redundant.

have read Scott Cunningham's "Wicca", Silver Ravenwolf's "Book of Shadows for the New Generation" (which was read with a pinch of salt. Ok, a BUCKET of salt. I don't like her hatred of Christianity, nor do I like how she makes people believe real witches do bla bla bla. For example, she says "Real witches do NOT worship satan." even though Satanists may practice witchcraft and worship Satan. She does, however, provide some useful information, such as sigils.) I've read The Real Witch's Handbook, although it contains little information on spells, and more on the Wheel of the Year. However, it's an excellent book to have when an upcoming Esbat calls for celebration. Lastly, I've read Judika Iles' Elemental Encyclopedia of 5000 spells. Well, of course, not all of it. I have checked out some correspondences and some of the hints etc throughout the book. It hasn't proved to be too handy. Most of the information I now know comes from Youtube videos and threads on 4Chan's paranormal board. Which, might I add, gives a lot of criticism to Wicca, and calls it fake all the time.

Scott Cunningham is alright, keep that one for now, but the Silver Ravenwolf..brain bleach your mind of anything she said. Purchase Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, she's not a wiccan but a witch and it's a great book if just to get the feel of the early 70's womens movement, the politics, and some elements of ritual. Try to purchase books by Deborah Lipp, she's a good author, a friend of a friend, and her stuff goes past the wicca 101 to explore deeper topics and truths about wicca. Once you get past your newness, there are alot of other books outside of the 101 to look into.

Wicca is fake. It's pretty much the same thing as scientology in that it's a religion created by one man from a bunch of different sources and inspiration. But...it is what it is and it makes people happy, and there's elements of truth in the pieces if not in the whole, so... *shrug*

[jittertat]

I have found that Wicca is rather unreliable as a religion. With no basis or foundations, or religious figures, it bugs me that everyone's opinion is different. However, even though witchcraft and Wicca are not synonymous terms, but isn't a witch someone who practices witchcraft, and isn't witchcraft a form of occult magic practiced within Wicca? (Or a religion of its own?)

[JuniperBerry]

Pretty much. "All wiccans are witches but not all witches are wiccan." Or so the saying goes.