What is a Spell Part 1: Whaddya Want?

In the last newsletter article, "What is a Spell?", we talked about the 12 steps of any given spell... and we promised that in future articles we would dig deeper into each of those steps. Well, the future has arrived! In this article we discuss the very first step in any spell: defining what you want.

Defining What You Want
When it comes to how to cast a spell, most people want to dive right into litanies, candle carvings, divinations, and all the other fun "witchy" stuff that goes into a spell. And we don't blame them because those parts of casting a spell are indeed fun and witchy and magical.

But the fact of the matter is that the first step to any spell is the step that is skipped by many new practitioners of magic--defining what is wanted. As they go about designing spells, most people are quite sure that they know what they want... and they do. The problem is that most people only know what they want in a general sort of way. For instance, see if any of these sound familiar.

I WANT ...

• more money
• a better life
• a soul mate
• to be happier
• a better job
• better health or a better body

Do these ring any bells for you? They might. They do for a lot of people who email us requesting help with spellwork. These are all admirable goals and we applaud people for knowing what they want. But when it comes to how to cast a spell that actually works, this level of wanting isn't enough.

Defining What You Want... Magically
Defining what you want in life and defining what you want in magical terms are two fairly different endeavors. Why? One reason:

"Magic is a precision science."

That means that using a spell to get "more money" isn't going to be more effective. That kind of loosely-defined desire, probably WILL net you more money. You just won't have a clue how much more money you will get. You may get any amount from one cent to ten thousand dollars. You may get a million dollars, but the money may not arrive until the day before you die.

Are you getting the picture? In other words, when you define what you want in magical terms, you have to think like a reporter. You have to answer questions about who, what, when, where, and how. You don't have to answer the "why" of the spell. As a planetary citizen, you have every right to ask for and get what you want. You can expect the Universe to deliver exactly what you request, which means you need to define your request exactly!

So when you think about casting a spell to get what you want, pause for a moment. Before investing a single moment into the actual "methods" of the spell, take as much time as you need to define the terms of what you want clearly, exactly, and definitely. Once you have done so, then you are ready to move on to the next step--deciding which type of spell to cast.

We'll discuss the different types of spells--and their appropriateness for different situations--in the next article in this series... so stay tuned! In the meantime, work on defining what you want in magical terms, and enjoy the process! You know what they say about the journey versus the destination.

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