Have Doubts About Magick? Practice on Animals First

If you would love to believe in magick, love to use magick, and love to live a magickal life... but you have doubts, what are you to do? Simple. Learn about and practice magick on animals first. While our friends with fur, fins, and feathers may not be able to speak to us directly using our native tongue, such as English, they also don't second-guess results and will easily "show" you whether a magickal ritual or spell was effective, or not.

Protective of Your Animals? No Worries
If you are worried about harming your animals by experimenting on them with healing or other rituals, don't worry. Most animals are way ahead of us on the curve when it comes to magick. They already instinctively understand how magick works in the body (for instance, animals know how to ground excess energies into the Earth without a second thought) and how to avoid harm.

If you're not sure whether Rex or Sassy can handle your magickal experimentation, maybe this story will help you out. One day our magick teacher taught us how to throw bolts of fire energy. When I got home I still had firebolts on the mind. Without a second thought, I looked at a flame colored source (bright orange), pulled it into my body, and then threw a bolt at Tether, our dog. Tether found this highly amusing (she smiles widely with her tongue lolling out when amused) and simply looked at the same color source and sent the fire bolt right back at me! Needless to say, while Tether was able to ground the energy without having to think about it, I was new to this kind of magick and did not have the same responses. I was flaming hot for the rest of the day, and it took several rounds of "grounding" to get rid of the fire energy.

Animals Don't Lie
One of the best aspects about animals is that they usually can't and don't lie about the results of any healing or corrective magick that you practice on them. I use the word "usually" because we have known dogs, cats, and other critters to exhibit high intelligence and be able to "fake" injuries to gain sympathy. But for the most part animals don't waste their time on such endeavors.

Animals are also very quick in their response to magickal energies. For instance, suppose you pull fire from an inflamed foot on your dog. The dog will "show" you after the session whether your magickal healing efforts worked or not. They may cease to limp on that foot, stop chewing and licking that foot, or just return to their natural happy selves.

Don't be discouraged if your dog or cat initially responds well to your magickal healing treatment, only to display the same previous symptoms later in the day or the week. If you have not located the actual cause of the problem (say, the source of heat in your dog's leg), then the inflammation will reappear sometime after the magickal treatment.

To find the source of the problem, you can ask your dog or cat to show you what hurts or what part of the body is injured. Then begin lightly using your hands to palpate your dog or cat's body, keeping in mind that you wish to discover the source of the health problem. Use your hands in this manner all over your dog or cat's body. At some point your animal may yelp or try to get out of the way. This is your animal's way of showing you the source of the problem. You can then use the Yes or No kinesiology approach with your fingers to determine whether the problem is infection, injury, lack of function in a particular organ, or something else. You can also use this approach to determine whether you have the magickal skills to heal the problem, or whether you need to seek a more conventional source, such as a veterinarian.

In most case you will find animals open to magickal healing. To learn more about magickal healing techniques, check out our Basic Magic Level I online course... currently available at such a deep discount as to cost no money whatsoever! Just email us (info@shamanschool.com) to find out more about the free offer. In this course you will find all kinds of healing techniques associated with each of the four magickal elements: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. With this knowledge, not only will you be able to heal some illness or health issues, but you will also develop the tools to deal with everything from cranky bosses to the "Monday Morning Blues." Go HERE to check out the course and its simple requirements.

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The Magick of Laziness

You have probably heard of the old joke in which a British diplomat is sent to India. Upon arriving in India, this diplomat observes men just "lying about," sunning themselves, and generally being lazy. Shocked at this display of sheer laziness, the diplomat approaches one of the men lying in the sun. The diplomat asks, "Why are you wasting your life away just lazing in the sun?"

The Indian man, having been asked this question many times before, replies, "And how do you choose to spend your life?"

The diplomat bristles and says, "I intend to work very hard, accumulate a vast fortune so that I am independently wealthy."

"Once you have achieved your wealth, what will you do with your life?" asks the Indian.

The diplomat replies, "I will buy some sea side property and lie in the sun and relax, knowing that I have worked hard all my life and can rest easy."

The Indian man laughs so hard he can hardly gasp out his answer: "Silly man, why bother? I have not worked a single day in my life and am living your dream of lying about in the sun, resting easy with no regrets. Laziness has its benefits, no?"

So who is right: the British diplomat or the Indian man? The answer depends on how you view the world, and how you see your place in the world. If you require a lifetime of hard work before you feel that you "deserve" to rest easy, then pursuing a life of hard work (like the British diplomat) is the life for you.

But if you want to achieve your life goals with as little effort as possible, then studying the use of magick and the power of laziness in everyday life is the way to go.

What is the Magick of Laziness?
If you are at all plugged into the digital age, then you know that our phones, tablets, beepers, and TV programs engage us endlessly. We never get to "unplug and turn off" unless we do so on purpose. In fact, most of us are trained to check email endlessly and chat at will. This is certainly not a magickal lifestyle, nor does it take advantage of the power of laziness.

But don't worry, even if you start living a magickal life of laziness, you don't have to ditch your digitals. You just have to adapt your relationship to those machines to make room for magick... and, of course, laziness.

So how do magick and laziness go together? Simple. Magick is the art of calling upon various beings in the Universal Hierarchy to do the heavy lifting in our lives. With a magickal practice, you cultivate and enhance relationships with these beings. The more you work with magickal beings, the more willing they are to help you. This all sounds pretty good, but a few people may wonder what all this "heavy lifting" by magickal beings will cost at the end of the day. This is a great question. Any interaction with magickal beings requires an even exchange of energy... so working with magickal beings will have an energetic cost.

The good news is that most universal beings who do the kind of work we seek need only appreciation and some recognition of the work being done. That is literally all they require in the energy exchange. For instance, there are many angels hanging around waiting for humans to ask them for their help. The energy exchange required by angels is simple: the expression of appreciation before and after the work is done, as well as a positive attitude. Angels can and do work with people who have a negative or "Doubting Thomas" attitude, but the results are rarely happy. Thanking angelic beings plus being open to the belief that magick and universal beings exist to help seems pretty simple, right? And yet these two simple factors (appreciation and faith) are like manna to angels. This type of energy feeds their souls, and also helps advance them to the next level of their spiritual path. The same simplicity applies when angels perform actions that seem like miracles in our eyes. What would take us days and weeks of work is nothing to an angel. An angel can do some pretty heavy lifting in the blink of an eye. This is because angels exist at a different level than we do (here on planet Earth), and manifesting what we desire is much simpler at the angelic level.

The Laziness Factor
Now that you understand the relationship between angels and humans (and this is just one of many possible relationships humans can have with magickal universal beings), you can probably see how the laziness factor fits in. If you have an impossible situation or task, don't try to do it by yourself. Hire an angel to help (learn how to work with angels by reading the article on working with Unemployed Angels) do all the work. You just specify the job at hand as accurately as possible.

After you have solicited the help of an angel, the next part is truly about the laziness factor. Once you have hired one or more angels, and have sent them on their merry way to work for you, your job becomes very simple. Your job is to be as lazy as the Indian man lying on the beach. With regard to the tasks you have assigned to the angels, you just have to keep your head down and stay out of the angels' way. Do not start "doing" anything that you have asked angels to do. This kind of interference creates double work for the angels. If you have other work to do, go do it. In other words, do whatever it takes to keep your grubby little hands out of the angelic pie. Read a book, lie in the sun, go do other work unrelated to the angelic tasks you have assigned. Be lazy. Really lazy. And have faith that angels will deliver what you have hired them to do.

Start Small
When you first begin working with angelic and other magickal beings, it's best to start small. Tasking angels with small assignments makes it easy to have faith that angels with deliver. Also small tasks matter less, so you will be less likely to want to interfere by "doing" what you have asked the angels to do (because you don't yet have enough faith that angels will deliver). For all of these reasons, we start most students with hiring parking angels. Parking angels are dedicated to reserving the best parking spots for you, whether at a crowded mall or at the county fair. Read up on Parking Angels to learn more, and start working with angels at this level. As you see angels performing miracle after miracle, feel free to ask for ever bigger favors. Just remember that the more heavy lifting you do, the lazier you have to be. Once you have hired an angel your job is to be lazy, to have faith, and to express your appreciation before, during, and after the work has been done. Simple and lazy, right? That's the way to leverage magickal laziness in your life!


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The Magickal Power of Hitting "Reset"

While many people engage in the ritual of New Year's Resolutions, very few people actually take the time to stop the rhythm of their daily lives to hit the magickal "Reset" button. In tribal times, people used ceremonies to release the old and welcome the new--usually during or the equinox. In modern times, however, these times have become simply holidays, time off from work and time for family. While holidays can often mean family time, which can resemble tribal ceremonial gatherings, unfortunately the family members rarely participate in activities that are intended during gatherings... to release the old and welcome the new.

Modern Magickal Ceremonies
Depending on the people with whom you gather during the holidays, conducting modern magickal ceremonies can either be done as a group or on your own. Both group and solo ceremonies can be equally effective. Many students in our classes conduct group ceremonies, often but not always at the solstice of equinox. While the solstice and equinox are indeed powerful times of the year to conduct ceremonies, if it is not possible to conduct a ceremony during those times of year, any time will do. The goal is to take the time to stop the daily routine of our lives and spend a certain period of time purposefully releasing the old from the past season (or seasons), and welcome the new for the coming season.

There are many powerful reasons to take the time to conduct such magickal ceremonies, including:

• releasing old beliefs that no longer serve you
• processing events from the recent far past that you have not yet resolved so you can put the events and information in the proper place in your consciousness
• releasing people and relationships in your life that no longer serve you, and which may cost you energy to maintain
• allowing the new ideas, emotions, directions, guidance, and spiritual power from your spirit guides, totems, and other higher beings to enter your consciousness
• gaining new perspectives on your life, including possible new options for career, health, money, love, family, and more
• expanding the spaces in between the daily actions of your life to allow the magick to seep into your life and take its place in your life

There are many other benefits to spending time designing and participating ceremonies. One major benefit is that you probably won't catch any major flus or colds going around. While catching a cold does often have to do with being in proximity of others who are sick, practitioners who take the time during the change of season to celebrate with ceremony tend not to get sick.

Because there are no ceremonial periods integrated into modern everyday life, the body, mind, and Spirit often have no recourse for creating a magickal period of celebration other than illness. If you think about it, getting sick forces us to slow down, take time to rest, and avoid going to work. While lying flat on your back due to illness isn't the most pleasant way to release the old, sickness does get the job done. The old is released through all the somewhat unpleasant aspects of sickness, as well as through sleep and dreams and even the images and dreams associated with fevers. Being sick for a period of time gives us a different perspective on our lives. We move slower, think less, feel more sensation, and have the time to consider the various aspects of our lives that we usually never have the time to do.

As we begin to recover from our illness, we feel a new sense of vibrant energy. We enjoy the return of our normal vibrant energy--something we tend to take for granted on a daily basis. Recovery from illness can make us more appreciative of various aspects of our lives. If you journal, you will see the difference in your perspective in your life, as brought about by sickness.

So while getting sick is certainly one way to release the old and bring in the new, wouldn't taking just a few hours to participate in a ceremony be much more fun?

Simple Magical Ceremonies
While many of our students do create and participate in ceremonies rich in content and filled with people, this is not a necessity. To celebrate the release of the old and the arrival of the new in your life, you can do something as simple as inviting a few friends over for a drumming ceremony. If you prefer to fly solo, consider some of these simple options:

Sun Candle: Gather a bright yellow candle (no red or orange undertones) along with wooden or paper matches plus a plate. Gather pen and paper. Divide the paper into two columns. On one side list all the aspects of your life that you would like to release (the old). On the other side of the list, write all the new aspects that you would like to invite into your life during the coming season. Find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed for at least an hour. Gather all your materials and sit in the South facing North with your materials in front of you. Light the Sun Candle with the matches. When the candle has a strong and steady flame (called a working flame), place your list on the plate and put the candle on top of the plate. In a voice of command, say the following verse:

Child of Wonder
Child of Flame
Nourish My Spirit
And Protect My Aim

Sit quietly until you feel complete. If you like, meditate by staring at the candle flame. Or simply envision the energy of the old leaving your life as the energy of the new enters, Feel free to repeat this simple ritual for several days in a row if you like.

Announce Your Reset to the Universe: Another simple way to release the old and welcome the new is to make your list, as in the previous exercise, and then announce your intentions to the Universe. Once you have made your list, find a place outside where you feel comfortable speaking to the Winds, Sky, and Earth. Start by facing East. In a voice of command, speak the following: "Winds of Knowledge, With Beauty I Greet You. I ask your help in releasing the old from my life and welcoming the new into my life. I thank you in advance for your help." Turn clockwise and face the South. Address each direction as follows:

o South: Winds of Power
o West: Winds of Feeling
o North: Wind of Strength
o Sky (face East and put attention upward): Sky Father
o Earth (face east and put attention downward): Earth Mother

Hibernate: If doing either of the two exercises above seems to be too much, then simply do as many of the creatures in Nature do... hibernate. Whether you need to request that your family not disturb you or you simply need to spend the night in a hotel, take a day or two to simply sleep, eat, rest, read, relax and rejuvenate as you like. You will be amazed at how following the simple guidance from your body will recharge your batteries in a hurry!

Another way to get your new year off to a new start is to join in the magic with others. We are currently offering you the opportunity to try out our classes for free. The only payment we'll ask for is that after each set of classes, you provide some sort of testimonial or way of passing the magick forward to others. For more details on this special offer just email us at info@shamanschool.com and we'll send you the details and a coupon code to purchase the Magical Element Air classes at no cost to you to get you started. In this new year let magic help you let go of the old and invite in the new.

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A Simple Magickal Litany to "Cut the Cord"

If you have something in your life that is really bothering you, you can use the simple magickal litany in this article to "cut the cord" from that problem. Whether you are dealing with a sticky and unhealthy relationship that keeps pulling you in like the tar baby or have difficulty letting go of some compulsive thoughts, this might be just what you need to untangle yourself from the problem.

The beauty of this magickal chant is that it is effective no matter if the problem is within you or is an external person or force. For instance, if you have spent years telling yourself that you are "stupid" and you can't seem to escape the effects of that self-programming, this litany is just what you need.  The directions below are for doing the chant while in a sacred circle. We recommend that you do the chant using the following directions first. Later, if you are still bothered by the problem, you can either repeat the entire process, or you can simply use the litany if you don't have time to do the full procedure.

How to Do the Disconnect Litany
The disconnect litany is a wonderful and simply magickal solution to distance yourself from problems and issues that are particularly chronic in your life. The following instructions will guide you through the full procedure for doing this disconnect litany.

To do the full disconnect litany, you will need:

• wooden or paper matches
• a compass to find the four cardinal directions
• a bright yellow pillar candle (no orange or red undertones)
• a sage stick, dried so it burns easily, and a plate or bowl to catch the ashes as the stick burns
• a printed version of the disconnect litany (copy from the following instructions)

Once you have gathered your materials, you are now ready to proceed with the disconnect litany using the following instructions:

1. Using your compass outdoors (compasses do not work accurately indoors), locate the four directions of East, South, West, and North.

2. Move back inside your house and clear an area at least 5 to 10 feet in diameter. Mark the four cardinal directions, either in your mind or with sticky notes on the floor.

3. Gather all your materials and sit in the South facing North, with your materials in front of you.

4. Light the candle with the wooden or paper matches. Wait until the candle has a tall working flame. Then cup your hands around the flame and say aloud in a voice of command:
"Child of Wonder, Child of Flame, Nourish my Spirit, and Protect my Aim!"
Wait a few moments for the energy of the charge verse to fill the space.

5. Light your sage stick from the yellow candle. Once the sage stick is burning, stand up, carrying the burning sage stick over your plate or bowl to catch the ashes. Walk in a clockwise direction around the circle. Allow the sage smoke to create a "perimeter" around the circle. Once you have walked completely around the circle and are back in the South, move to the center of the circle.

6. Place your burning sage stick in the bowl or plate. Bring the rest of your materials and situate yourself so you are facing East with your materials in front of you.

7. Looking outside the circle to the East, "mock up" the person or thing from which you want to disconnect. If that is another person who keeps bringing you back into an unhealthy relationship, mock up that person standing outside the circle. If you want to disconnect from compulsive thoughts, see those thoughts written in neon hanging in the air outside your circle. If you want to break from an unhealthy habit, mock up a version of yourself outside the circle in the act of the unhealthy habit.

8. Once you have a clear and strong mock up, say the following litany in a voice of command:
"I am neither your creature nor your get,
To be ruled by your whim or your let,
I will go my own way by night or by day,
To serve my own purposes yet!"

9. As you say the litany, see the mocked up energy forms outside your circle shrinking and disappearing in a puff of smoke. You may have to repeat the disconnect litany several times before you achieve the full effect.

10. Once you are done, walk around your circle clockwise once more and see if you notice a difference in the energy.

11. During your day, if you feel the reappearance of whatever you disconnected from, repeat the disconnect litany. You can sit inside your car and see the mock up outside your car. Repeat the litany three times.

12. When you have time, repeat the full procedure with the candle and sage stick. Repeat as many times as needed. You will be surprised to notice the change in your life if you are persistent in using the litany.

As you go through your day, remember that you are entitled to your sacred space. Whether it is unwanted thoughts or people invading your space does not matter. You have the right as a planetary citizen to be free of anything unwanted in your sacred space. The disconnect litany is one of the easiest ways to clear your sacred space. Learn more about your rights to protect your sacred space in our Learn How to Do Witchcraft Rituals and Spells with Your Bare Hands Kindle book.

Image courtesy of  vectorolie / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


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Accident Prone? The Universe May Be Sending You a Message

Have you hit a patch in your life where you just seem to be accident prone? Maybe you keep tripping and falling, hitting your shoulder on a door frame, or getting into a number of small fender benders. Many of these "incidences" can be blamed on astrological events such as Mercury Retrograde. But if you find yourself or your family experiencing more strange accidental events that can't be so easily explained, maybe the Universe is trying to tell you something.

Accidents as Messages from the Universe
Karma is generally interpreted as "What goes around comes around." There are many theories as to whether one's personal karma is spread over a number of lifetimes or is simply limited to this lifetime. Our teacher, George Dew of the Church of Seven Arrows, always believed that karma is a "pay as you go" system in this Universe. That is, whatever you do will be reflected back to you very quickly, and certainly within this lifetime. This doesn't necessarily negate the idea that karma from past lives can appear in this lifetime to be paid. At the same time, there are two reasons that karma may come around very quickly"

1. Aquarian Age: As we move further into the Aquarian Age, everything happens more quickly. The result of any spellwork will manifest with greater speed. Karma will also come around fast and furious, and either pay out or require one to pay in.

2. Magickal Practitioners: If you are practitioner, then karma also moves faster in your life. Those with magickal force and power have a greater effect on the world and Universe, and also have a greater responsibility. Thus any negative or positive karma created by your practice will come around more quickly than for the average citizen.

Having said all that, the question then becomes, "What do these accidents mean?" George Dew, in his Rules of the Road (the Universal Laws that govern magickal practice), noted that accidents are often the Universe's way of providing the magickal practitioner with "feedback" about his or her actions. The feedback can be about breaking any of the Rules of the Road. In addition, there are several minor rules in particular that many practitioners are prone to ignore.

- Vanity: Using magickal abilities to "show off" or be noticed

- Cost: Charging too much for magickal services (in general, services should cost the same as any other professional--such as a lawyer or accountant--would charge)

- Using Complex Spells by Others Without Proper Checking: While it's perfectly fine to use spells written by others, especially simple rituals and spells that have little chance of creating a lot of karma, using complex spells and rituals created by others without first doing some divination to ensure the spell is "safe" can cause the Universe to send you one accident after another until you take down the spell. At the Esoteric School, all spells and rituals offered have been checked against Rules of the Road to prevent negative feedback.

- Binding or Coercion: Magick is neither good nor bad. Magick simply is a force that can be used in many ways, depending on the practitioner. If magickal force is used to bind or coerce another (a love spell that binds a certain person into a relationship is the perfect example) the Universe will not hesitate to bind you in a similar manner. If the binding causes another person to lose their personal freedom, the Universe will reflect that back to you tenfold, and quickly. Prepare for not just small accidents, but one that may limit your freedom for many years to come (as in being sent to prison, losing the use of one's body, and so forth).  Double check all spell work to be sure that it does not limit another's free will or choice.

How to Stop the Accidents
The best way to stop the Universal "messages" disguised as accidents is to locate the source of the problem. Review any magickal work you have done recently. Check your actions against the Rules of the Road (get the full list HERE). Use divination methods such as Tarot, pendulum, question circles, scrying, or the Firebowl to locate the cause of such Universal feedback.

Once you have determined the cause of the problem, move to immediately clean up the mess. If you have cast a spell that is causing negative feedback, take the spell down immediately. If you have been charging more than is reasonable for your services, either offer refunds or pay it forward by doing some pro bono magick. Whatever the cause, stop the magickal force or behavior that is causing the trouble. You will find that the Universe will stop harassing you with "accidents" just as quickly as it caused them.

If you take down a spell or stop a behavior that you feel is causing the Universal messages, but accidents keep happening, continue to use methods of divination until you find the source. The Spirit of Owl is always good at digging up hidden issues. Angels can be hired to help. A Sun Candle can disperse negative energy and help you see the issues more clearly. Whatever the cause, don't stop investigating until you find the answer, since you will not enjoy the continuing accidents from the Universe. You'll find these and plenty of other magical help in our Witchcraft Spell Book: The Complete Guide of Witchcraft Rituals & Spells for Beginners.

The good news is that the Universe is just and fair. As soon as you take care of the offending issue, the Universe will also stop offending you with accidents. The Universe is among the most perfect of mirrors for our own actions and behaviors.


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5 Basics of Effective Magickal Spell Work

When people hear the phrase "Spell Work" they often think of Harry Potter and his gang casting spells with their wands, or other similar movie references. In truth, spell work has very little to do with magick wands or the number of witches participating in such an event. Casting spells off the top of your head with your magick wand usually doesn't produce more than a headache. In this article, we will review the 5 basic steps of magickal spell work. These steps are practical, simple, and easily accomplished by practitioners of any level. To learn even more about simple beginning spells take a look at our Kindle book, The Complete Guide of Witchcraft Rituals & Spells for Beginners.

Step #1: Choose the Type of Spell
The first step to performing a magickal spell that actually accomplishes your aim is to choose the type of spell you will use. Pairing the right type of spell with the effect you want to magickally create in the world is very important.  Trying to use a simple single candle spell to change events on a global scale is not likely to be effective. At the same time, designing a complex Tarot spell to tweak a small aspect of your business would be overkill. The spell would probably accomplish the aim, but you would spend far more time and energy than necessary to affect such a small part of your world. So choosing the right type of spell is the key to starting off on the right foot.

Before you can choose the most appropriate type of spell, you first need to define the aim of your spell. What do you want your spell to achieve? Write the aim of your spell in one sentence. Depending on the complexity of or degree of change you want your spell to create, choose the appropriate type of spell. Though there is a huge variety of spells available, the most common types of spell used in present time include:

1.    Sun Candle spells
2.    single candle spells with appropriate carvings
3.    simulacra spells (often better known as voodoo)
4.    walking litany spells
5.    multiple candle spells
6.    Tarot spells
7.    circle ritual spells
8.    black mirror spells

Sun Candle, single candle, simulacra, and walking litany spells are the easiest to perform, and can be done with very few ingredients and just a little preparation. The more complex spells--multiple candle, Tarot, and circle ritual spells--require a great deal more planning, preparation, and caution. Most practitioners can accomplish the majority of daily needs with the first four simple spells. The last four types of spell require the ability to do a variety of Tarot readings to analyze the situation, prepare and check on verses and other spell requirements, the ability to set up a full cast circle, plus the ability to safely open and close a black mirror, and more. The best way to begin with spell work is to start with the first four types of spells. Once you have mastered these four types of spells, learning the last four types of complex spells will be a natural next step.

Step #2: Write Directors and Limiters
In the beginning, we suggest you start with simple aims for your spell, as well as simple spell types. Once you have chosen the type of spell you desire, the next step is to write Directors and Limiters. In the simplest of terms. Directors and Limiters specify what you want and do not want your spell to do, achieve, and more. For instance, if the spell is about your money situation, you would create Directors (what you want your spell to do) that will specify the range of money that you would like to come into your life. If you work with specific Spirit beings, you would also request their help in your list of Directors. In your Limiters, you might want to specify that the money that comes into your life be from a free and legal source. One novice spell caster neglected to add this specific Limiter to her list, and ended up earning very good money (as specified in her Directors) in her job. The only catch was that the job was with a Mob operation, hence illegal. Creating very specific Directors and Limiters is crucial to the effectiveness of your spell. For instance, with money spells, you may also want to have a Limiter that states that your spell will not cause untimley death or loss of property to anyone... without this Limiter your spell may bring you the money you desire through an inheritance, at the expense of a family member's untimely death. In short, Directors and Limiters are the magickal way of specifying the who, what, when, and how of your spell.

Once you have a solid and specific list of Directors and Limiters, you may want to write verses to accompany your Directors and Limiters.  Verses are lyrical or poetic versions of your Directors and Limiters, and can be used in conjunction with your Directors and Limiters to strengthen your spell. For instance, with a Sun Candle spell, you may decide to place your Directors and Limiters between a magickal Plate or Pantacle and the Sun Candle. As you light the Sun Candle each day, keep the Directors and Limiters under the candle while you read your verses aloud in a voice of command. Taking the time to write verses and read them daily (often for 40 days at a time) sends a strong signal to the Universe. While verses are not strictly necessary, the lyrical vocalization of your spell on a daily basis roots your spell deeper in your psyche, and attracts that which you desire into your life more quickly.

Step #3: Check Your Directors and Limiters Plus Verses
Even if you write what seems to be perfect Directors and Limiters plus verses, it is always a good idea to check your results with a Question Circle. A Question Circle allows you to check whether any of your Directors or Limiters will achieve the intended results of your spell. A Question Circle will also help you check your verses. The Four Directions, along with Sky, Earth, and any specific Spirit guides who help you, can offer all kinds of lyrical inspiration, not to mention what is excessive or missing from your Directors and Limiters.

To do a Question Circle you will need to gather a Sun Yellow Candle that can easily be carried from place to place, wooden or paper matches to light the candle, a pen, and paper, plus your spell aim, Directors, Limiters, and verses. After you gather your materials, proceed with the Question Circle using the following directions.

1. Locate the directions north, south, east and west. If you are unsure of the cardinal directions, go outside with a compass and take readings of the directions. Be sure to use your compass outside as there is too much electromagnetic energy inside a house to give you accurate readings.

2. Find a space in your house that is 5 to 10 feet in diameter, moving whatever furniture necessary.

3. Gather your materials, and then enter the circle from the East and walk clockwise to the South. Once you reach the South side of your circle, sit facing the outside of the circle with your Sun Candle and materials in front of you.

4. Light your candle with the wooden or paper matches (no lighters), cup your hands around the flame of the candle. Once the candle has a tall active "working flame," charge or program the candle by saying the following verse aloud in a voice of command: "Child of wonder, child of flame, nourish my spirit and protect my aim."

5. Now bring your candle and materials to the East side of the circle, walking clockwise to reach the East. Sit facing the outside of the circle, again placing your candle and materials before you.

6. Take a few moments to calm and quiet your body and mind. Then say aloud in a voice of command, "Please show me what changes I may need to make in my choice of spell type, my Directors and Limiters, and verses to create the most effective spell for my aim."

7. Sit quietly and allow the answer to come. Be prepared as each direction on the Medicine Wheel often has much to offer. Keep writing until the flow of information stops.

8. Bring your candle and materials clockwise to the South. Sit facing the outside of the circle, and then follow the same steps as outlined previously to ask the South for guidance on your spell. Repeat with the directions West and North.

9. Finally, return to the center of your circle and sit facing East. Ask the same questions of "Sky Above" and "Earth Below." If you have specific Spirit guides, ask them this question at this time.

10. Once you have received all the information flowing to you, thank all of the directions and any Spirit guides. Blow out your Sun Candle.

11. Take some time to read through the answers from each direction of Spirit guide. It may take a few days for all of the information to fall into logical order. Allow the information to percolate for the next few days. Alter your spell type, Directors and Limiters, and verses as guided by your Question Circle. Then move onto the next step.

Step #4: Record Results and Launch Your Spell
Once you have tweaked and updated your spell type, Directors and Limiters, and verses as needed, record every aspect of your spell in a Book of Shadows. A Book of Shadows is a sacred magickal book in which you record every spell you ever launch. A Book of Shadows can be as simple as a spiral bound notebook, or as complex as a deeply embossed leather book with parchment paper. Many people place the symbol of the pantacle (star inside a circle) on both covers of their Book of Shadows to protect the contents.

In your Book of Shadows, write the date and time you launch your spell, along with the spell type, Directors and Limiters, verses, and any other details. For instance, if you use a single candle spell, you may have carved symbols onto the candle. Record each of these symbols as well. If you choose to read your spell verses aloud with your candle lit on a daily basis, record each time and date of each reading. Finally, jot down any signs and guidance you receive regarding your spell or the progress of your spell.

Step #5: Checkup on Your Spell
There are as many ways of checking on the progress of your spell as there are types of spells. For beginners, use the Question Circle method to check on your spell. Instead of asking how you can change your spell verses or type to better achieve your spell's aim, in Question Circle ask how your spell is progressing, and whether you need to take any action steps. Sometimes adding an extra daily mantra or walking litany add a great deal of force to your spell. Very infrequently, some spells go awry and need to be taken down. In the case of a simple candle spell, all you need to do is break the candle you used in half. Bury both halves in the Earth for a moon cycle. This will "take down" your spell and reverse any damage the spell may have caused. For the most part, the Question Circle will simply provide reassurance or offer additional suggestions to boost your spell's power. Feel free to check on your spell as often as once a week.

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Magick to the Rescue Part 7: Lost? Find Your Way with Magickal Bread Crumbs

Earlier in this series Magick to the Rescue:
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

The Esoteric School receives frequent requests from people asking for guidance and answers along this life journey, be it answers to questions about career and family or guidance on Spirit paths. While many schools of magickal or esoteric teaching tend to charge high prices for such services, the Esoteric School is more about offering many different wants for the "every man and every woman" to find their own answers through simple magickal rituals and options. Through our blog and newsletters, our article library, and inexpensive self-paced courses, our goal is to allow as many people to bring magick into their lives as possible.

Of course, if you feel lost in your life then browsing through our online article library can seem a big overwhelming task. Knowing where to begin in your use of magick can be as important as the use of magick itself. The following section offers five different ways you can discover answers and find your way on your path magickally, step-by-step... or if you are into fairy tales, bread crumb by bread crumb. If and when you feel lost, scan through the following list and find the option that attracts your attention. Your attention--and your intention--will get you started in the direction you need to go. Then all you need to do is follow the first bread crumb to the next, and the next, and the next... and before you know it you will be striding with confidence down a pathway lit with magickal help and guidance!

Magickal Solution #1: Follow the First Answer You Hear
Whether you are completely lost and have no idea what you want in your life, or you are just a little muddled about your next step to reach your goal, the Universe is always happy to deliver answers to you instantly. Many students have tried this approach with surprisingly positive results. The Universe will answer any question you ask deliberately with an immediate answer.

The steps to this ritual are simple. Simply say to yourself or out loud in a voice of command: "Universe please provide me an answer to the question I will ask. I will follow the first answer I hear, trusting that you know exactly what I want and will not lead me astray. [Ask your question here]." You don't have to use these exact words, but follow the intent of the words and phrases, and announce to the Universe that you want and need guidance to a certain question. The question could be as big as a new direction for your career and as small as to whether you have a cup of coffee in the morning.

The key is to follow the first answer that the Universe provides, which will be the first answer you hear. You might hear the answer as a voice in your mind (and even in your own voice). You might hear a snippet of a conversation from a passing group of strangers. A song lyric may possess the answer you seek. The important thing is to take and follow the FIRST answer you hear. The answer may seem crazy at the moment or not in sync with your question, but just use your best judgment as to how to use that answer. You will be amazed at the results. At the next crossroads on your path, ask the Universe the next question. This will lead you from bread crumb to bread crumb until you find your way along your path. More importantly, you will have developed a relationship of trust with the Universe. You will have greater trust with each answer you receive, and proceed with ever greater confidence!

Magickal Solution #2: Pick a Card, Any Card
Just as a magician doing stage magic might invite you to pick a card, any card, and then guess the card without looking at it, the Universe also invites you to pick a card to find answers to questions you seek. Only there's no smoke or mirrors when you play the "pick a card" game with the Universe... just the answers you seek. You can use Medicine Cards, Angel Cards, Tarot Cards, Sacred Path Cards... whichever set of cards calls to you.

First, ask your question to the Universe, either out loud or in your mind. Next, pick up your deck of choice and shuffle the deck until the mix feels "right" to you. Then fan out the cards on a table and choose a card. Or cut the deck and take the top card. Or use any method you like. Just remain consistent in your approach.

This card is your "theme of the day" as well as the answer to your question. Most of these decks come with books that explain the meaning of each card, often with each card having two different meanings depending on whether the card is upright or reversed. Choose your card, note its position (upright or reversed) and then read the meaning of the card. As with all the methods offered in this article, follow the advice offered by the card as best you can. Most of the time the answer will mesh neatly with the question. If not, hold the answer in mind as you go about your day. Chances are that the meaning of the card will appear more clear as the day goes on. If not, sleep on it and see what your dreams tell you about the card. Answers may trickle through your mind and consciousness in the most amusing and interesting ways.

Magickal Solution #3: Create Your Own Method
Ancient proverbs, wise gurus, and other spiritual teachers have often said that we know what is best for ourselves, and that the answers we seek can be found within our own hearts. If this be true, one of the neatest magickal ways to gain answers is to create your own method for the Universe to deliver answers. One person took seven different books, opened each book to a random page, and underlined a word or phrase. She then arranged the seven books in an ordered stack. Finally, she opened each book to the page she had marked and wrote down the word or phrase. The combined words and phrases from the seven books made up her "answer" from the Universe. Invariably, though there were missing words, the message was quite complete and readable. More importantly, the message made perfect sense to the person. She continues to use this method to this day to gain the answers she seeks. Other people have asked people they encounter what's happening in their lives. The answers may be deep or shallow (depending on whether the people were strangers or friends), and the answers have always shed light on the asking person's situation. The person may have had to "dig" or "decipher" the meaning, the answer was always there to find.

Magickal Solution #4: Reach Out and Touch Someone
This method is similar to the one just previously discussed. Only, this time, instead of asking a bunch of different people you encounter about what is happening in their lives, you reach out to a person with whom you have not had contact for a very long time. Perhaps a friend who was also a neighbor moved away and you lost contact over the years. Or maybe you changed jobs, and you now move in different social circles. Dig back through your old contacts and see if one jumps out at you. If so, then ask the Universe your question and request that the answer come from the conversation with the person with whom you are about to speak. Then pick up the phone and reach out to that person. However you go about choosing a person from your distant past, the Universe will find a way to send the answers you seek humming across the telephone wires or into the internet chats. The Universe encompasses all methods of technology, new and old.

Magickal Solution #4: Astrocartography
Those who have been members of 12-step programs have probably often heard that "geographic moves" won't solve life problems since "everywhere you go there you are." It is true that we carry ourselves and unique personality quirks with us wherever we go. At the same time, it is also magickally true that there are different places on Planet Earth that are more or less beneficial to us in a variety of ways. Some places are better for our health, while other places are better for finances or relationships. Spiritual development can be easier in certain locations, while our careers may flourish in yet other locations. Some locations have multiple benefits with few drawbacks.

Astrocartography, which is the science of mapping our astrology onto a global map, can help us find the best places for certain areas of our lives. Astrocartography can help us locate "power places" for various aspects of our lives. Many sites on the internet offer this service, and the cost is inexpensive. Some sites offer you readings on three places around the globe, while other sites offer you a global reading, which tells you where different lines from your astrological chart cross on the globe, and offering pros and cons for each location. If you are looking for a new and interesting method of finding magickal answers to your questions, consider browsing around astrocartography sites to see if they pique your interest!

Magickal Solution #5: The Good Old Coin Flip
The Universe is just as happy to offer answers through complex rituals such as Question Circles as it is through simple methods such as flipping a coin. If you are looking for a simple "Yes or No" answer, sometimes flipping a coin is the way to go. One of our students uses the coin flip for the most important decisions in his life. And guess what? The answers have never led him anywhere other than where he wanted to go. You, of course, may not be ready to put major life decisions in the result of a simple coin flip. Instead, start small. Prepare your coin by holding it in your dominant hand and flowing energy into the coin until the coin feels warm, energized, or charged. Decide which side of the coin means "Yes" and which side means "No." Also decide how you will flip your coin. Will you flip the coin with one hand, catch it in the same hand and then place the coin over top of your other hand? Or will you simply catch the coin in the same hand and see which side faces up? As with all of these magickal "bread crumb" methods, choose a method for your magickal work, and then consistently use this method every single time. Now you are ready. Ask the Universe your question, again aloud or in your mind, and flip your coin. Note the answer and go with it.

Even if the answer seems contradictory to what you expected, follow the answer that appears. Along with following a consistent magickal procedure, trusting and following the answers provided by the Universe will help you develop a strong relationship of trust with the Universe. If you second-guess every answer you receive through these methods, then you might as well seek the help of a counselor or business coach. All of the previous methods, like much of the magick we teach, is aimed at helping you develop your own personal relationship with the Universe, without the need to seek the help of a magickal practitioner. While there is certainly a time and place for seeking guidance and help from others, how much more magickal would your life be if you could directly ask the Universe for the answers you seek? Wouldn't life be so much more magickal, more fun, and more miraculous?


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Magick to the Rescue Part 6: Accept Where You Are

Earlier in this series Magick to the Rescue:
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Most of the time we humans tend to think that we are in control of our lives. And for the most part the Universe (substitute the name of the Higher Being closest to you) allows us to have that illusion of control. And then just when we think we have our lives just how we want them (or not), those pesky higher beings sweep in and change our lives, often quite drastically. The results can be devastating. Sometimes we end up with debt up to our ears because a law was passed in a country halfway around the world. Other times some sort of freedom is taken away from us, be it the bars of a jail or the loss of freedom of movement due to paralysis of the body. Yet other times a person we love is taken from us.

No matter what drastic event has occurred in your life, you are left high and dry in a very sudden way. The landscape looks bleak. You probably feel shell-shocked with no idea how to proceed, or even what to do when you get out of bed each day.

Magick to the Rescue: Accept Where You Are
Magick can help you get out of life's messes with amazing speed and miraculous results. But before you can move on, you first have to accept where you are. Using magick to change your life is very similar to looking at those giant map kiosks at the mall that show the location of each store and restaurant. But the map cannot help you in the slightest until you find the bright red arrow or dot that says, "You are here."

So whatever drastic or tragic life event has happened, find the place inside yourself that says, "I am here. This is what has happened to me, and I accept that, for now, my life is x, y, and z." Be as factual in your description of your current life situation as you can. Avoid using negative adjectives. For instance, if you have accumulated a lot of debt, instead of saying, "I have such an enormously shameful amount of debt," use a statement that is more factual, such as, "The current amount of debt to my name is $x." Thus you are not shaming, blaming, or complaining about the debt, but are simply stating that the debt associated with your name is x amount. Notice how the statement also did not say, "My debt is x, y, and z." While it is true that you are the one who will have to pay back the debt, you don't really want to claim it the way you claim your favorite little black dress or your best set of golf clubs. The goal is to accept the level of debt without adding greater personal attachment to it.

Magick to the Rescue: Create a Practical Plan and Test It!
When confronted with a drastic life change, the idea of creating a practical plan can seem ridiculous. After all, there is panicking to attend to, who has time to create a practical plan? You do. And you must. If you don't create a practical plan to hoist yourself out of hot water, who will?

Luckily, magick can also help you with the practical. The process is a simple combination of a number of rituals. Ready? Good. You will need a bright yellow candle, paper or wooden matches, a pen, and paper. Here's how you use your magick to create a practical plan to get you out of hot water, bit by bit:

1. Give you and your Spirit Guides a spiritual boost by charging a Sun Candle (this is a mini candle spell). Get a bright yellow candle (no orange overtones), preferably in glass for safety. Sit in the South facing North with your candle in front of you. Use your paper or wooden matches to light your candle. When the flame becomes tall and strong, cup your hands around the flame, and then say in a voice of command:

"Child of Wonder
Child of Flame
Nourish My Spirit
And Protect My Aim!"

2. Now set the candle to the side, send up a short prayer of thanks and request for help to the higher (if you like), and pick up your pen and paper. Think about your current life "problem or situation" and spend no more than five minutes writing a list of practical action steps that might improve your life situation. Write anything and everything that comes to mind, whether or not the idea seems useful, practical, distasteful, or impossible. Simply write. Don't think. Allow ideas to flow through the pen from higher beings onto paper. Consider your writing channeling rather than thinking. Allow the higher beings you invited into your sacred space with the Sun Candle and your request for help to flow their creativity and ideas through your pen and onto the paper.


3. Once you have completed your writing, you will now dowse your list to determine which items are meant for present use, which ideas will come in handy later, and which items you may never use. To begin, start with your non-dominant hand. Touch the tip of the index finger and thumb of that hand together so the fingers form an "O". Ensure that the other fingers are pointing slightly up so that they don't interfere with the space inside the "O" shape. Now put the index finger of your dominant hand in the center of the "O" formed by the fingers of your non-dominant hand. Say in a voice of command, "Show me Yes!" Then with force use the index finger of your dominant hand to try to break the bond of the fingers forming the "O" shape. If you are successful, then each time you are able to break the bond of the fingers forming the "O", the answer to the question you ask during dowsing is "Yes." Now repeat procedure this time saying, "Show me No!" The opposite action should occur. If the fingers parted for "Yes," they should hold together for "No." Practice this a few times so you are clear about the signals for "Yes" and "No."


Don't worry if you get conflicting signals at first. Simply practice the "Yes" and "No" a few times and use the most common results for "Yes" and "No." For instance, if the fingers part most of the time for "Yes," then this becomes your signal for the answer "Yes," and closed finger means "No." Don't spend a lot of time worrying about this step. Just get a feeling for the signal for each answer, and then move on to the next step.

4. In this step you will combine the list you wrote with finger-testing. For each item on the list, ask the following questions:

"Is this item likely to be useful in solving my life situation [describe your life situation in a few words] at all in the future?"

"Will this item be useful in solving my life situation [describe it using the same words] either in the present or in the near future, [state a time from such as "three to six months from today"]?"

"Will this item be useful in solving my life situation [describe it using the same words] in the far future, [state a logical time frame such as "six more months from today"]?"

Jot down the Yes/No answers for all three questions for each action item or possible solution you listed.


5. Rewrite your list into three separate lists, separated by whether the item on your list will be helpful in the present or near future, helpful in the far future, or not helpful at all.  Don't throw away the list of items that are ostensibly "not helpful at all" because the future is always changing. A decision or action you take now or in a few weeks could move an item from one list to another.

6. Now place just the list of items that your dowsing deemed useful for the present and near future. Using the same finger-testing method, ask yourself:

"Are there other ideas or solutions that would be helpful to me now or in the [state your time frame for "near future" here] that are not yet on this list?"

If the answer is "Yes," then ask an angel to help you complete your list. Say aloud or internally,

"I would like to request the help of an angel of Sun Yellow, Water Blue, Grass Green, and Sky Blue who specializes in [state the problem for which you want the angel's help]..." 

 [pause here for a few seconds to allow the angel to appear]...

"Angel of Sun Yellow, Water Blue, Grass Green, and Sky Blue who specializes in [state the problem for which you want the angel's help], I would like to request your help in completing this list of items that will help me in the present and near future so that I can move forward in my life and solve this particular problem. I thank you in advance for your help!"

Always thank higher beings in advance for their help. It is a show of good faith and is also a polite way to interact with higher beings. Then be prepared with pen and paper handy because chances are high that the angel will absolutely flood you with information, ideas, strategies, tactics, and insights that will amaze you! Once the flow of information has stopped, thank the angel again for the help--again, appreciation is valuable and much loved by higher beings, not to mention the only form of payment they require.


7. Finally, take your newly expanded list of ideas and actions that can help you tackle your sticky life problem in the present and near future. Arrange the list chronologically based on importance and timing. You can put some items concurrently if you feel that working on both items in parallel will help. Finally, if you want to double check your list, use finger testing to ask whether each item is in the correct order. If not, use finger testing to check whether the item should be moved up or down the list, and how far.

Once complete, you now have an action of plan for moving through, around, over, under, or simply beyond the curve ball that life has thrown into your life. You no longer need to feel stuck, helpless, hopeless, or angry about your life. Take comfort in the fact that even though your hands did the writing and finger testing, angels and higher beings were guiding your pen and your fingers every step of the way.

One final piece of advice: magickally, we say, "a small change in the present produces a larger change in the future." That means that acting on even one of the seemingly insignificant items on your list could result in a much bigger change in your future. The future is never fixed but is always dependent on the present. The moral of the story is to check your "present" and "future" and "never" lists frequently to see if items need to be added, removed, shifted in position, or moved to a different list. Your fingers will always steer you in the right magickal direction! To learn more about communicating with higher beings and using divination, check out our Psychic Development ebook.


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Magick to the Rescue Part 5: Stuck or Trapped? How to Think Magickally

See earlier articles in this series:
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3
Part 4

Who among us has not been stuck or trapped in a situation that seems impossible to resolve? We wonder how we have managed to paint ourselves into a corner... and if even we figure that out, we still can't find the solution. No worries! It's magick to the rescue. One of the best characteristics of using magick while living in the ordinary world is that magick exists on a higher level. That means that seemingly impossible problems are totally solvable by using magick.

With magick, there is always a solution, provided you think magickally. One of the best ways to check whether your mind is stuck on the hamster wheel of the "impossible" side of the problem, or whether you're using a more magickal approach is to go around the Medicine Wheel and check in with the four directions.

Winds of the East
On the Medicine Wheel, the direction East is about thinking, communicating, breathing, meditating, enlightenment, planning, and so on. Magickally, one key thought that comes from the Winds of the East is:

"Nothing is impossible with magick. Everything is possible with magick"

If you find yourself down in the dumps, go outside, face the direction East, and say aloud in a voice of command, "Winds of the East, please help me remember today that nothing is impossible with magick, and that everything is possible with magick. Thank you in advance for your help."

Pay attention to whether you continue to have hopeless thoughts, or whether new ideas, fresh outlooks, and changed perspectives come your way. Thank the Winds of the East again (using the same procedure) in the evening before you go to bed. Appreciation and gratitude are the best spiritual coin for higher beings who assist us.

Winds of the South
On the Medicine Wheel the direction South is about action, motivation, courage, movement, desire, and so forth. The magickal phrase that is often paired with the Winds of the South is:

"There are no wrong actions when guided by magick. Action is movement, and movement is life. The more alive you are, the more magickal your being becomes."

As with the Winds of the East, you can ask for help using the same procedure whenever you feel the Winds of the South can be helpful. Call on the Winds of the South when you feel stuck, frustrated. unmotivated, fearful of taking action, or unsure of the next step. Face South rather than East, and use the same approach given previously. As with the Winds of the East, thank the Winds of the South ahead of time, and again at the end of the day. As you move through your day, notice whether you feel more motivated, moved to action, and less fearful about taking a misstep. If so, the Winds of the South are working in your life.

Winds of the West
The Winds of the West, on the Medicine Wheel, stand for feelings, emotions, passions (especially when combined with the fiery energy of the Winds of the South), and the language of Spirit. The key phrase for the Winds of the West is:

"When I listen to my feelings I am guided by my Higher Spirit. All is well and will continue to be well so long as I follow the guidance of my Higher Spirit."

Magickally, you are not your body. You are a Spirit who has a body and a mind. Your Spirit lives in both the ordinary world and the Spirit realms. As such, your Spirit has access to more information about the lessons you are to learn this lifetime, the goals you set for yourself this lifetime, the experiences you hoped to have this lifetime, and more. Thus, listening to the guidance of your Higher Spirit via your emotions is an excellent way to navigate your way through life. Use the same ritual given previously to ask for help from the Winds of the West.

Winds of the North
Strength and perseverance are the hallmarks of the Winds of the North. While the Winds of the South represent the fiery essence of power, the staunch Winds of the North represent the strength to endure life's hardships and suffering. The key phrase used with the Winds of the North is:

"I have the strength to endure all that is in my life as I await the results of the workings of Spirit, magick, the Universe, and all higher beings I have asked to help. Higher help always comes to me, and until then I have the strength to endure."

When life seems unfair, or sorting your way through life's problems seems to be taking an interminable amount of time, ask the Winds of the North to bolster your strength and endurance. The Winds of the North can make staunch allies when the going gets tough.

Why Magick Does Not Work Immediately
One of the most common misconceptions about magick is that it can and will "instantly" fix life's problems, large or small. Magick is not an instant parlor trick. Rather, magick is a living energy that we beings tap into for all the attributes listed in this article: knowledge, power, guidance from Spirit, and the strength to endure.

Magick CAN and DOES solve those problems that are seemingly impossible to solve with ordinary means. At the same time, magick is neither instant nor free. While anyone is free to tap into the giant wave of magick that exists on this planet and throughout this Universe, magick requires payment in knowledge, learning, skill, power, appreciation, and practice. Those who practice magick on a daily basis will gain in force on an exponential level. Those who simply dabble with magick will gain magickal help in small increments, but will not be able to cobble together enough force to perform the more complicated and powerful magickal rituals.

Magick is a living force in our world, just as any part of Mother Nature is a living, breathing force. One of the most important goals of practicing magick is to develop a strong and unshakable relationship with the different spirits, guides, totems, guardians, and beings on the Hierarchy of magickal creatures in this Universe. Just as any banker who is a total stranger may lend you a small amount of money for some enterprise, a personal banker who has come to know and trust you will not hesitate to lend you much larger sums of money based mostly on trust and mutual respect. The same is true of the magickal beings in the Universe. Trust and respect are built over time through the diligent practice and working of magick on a daily basis.

The motto of the story is this: Magick will always come to your rescue if you so allow. The degree of help you gain from the forces of magick is dependent on the depth of your relationship with these forces. Like any good relationship, your relationship with the living power that is magick--and the specific magickal beings in the Universe--must be cultivated and tended to over time. Such relationships are developed, deepened, and woven tightly day by day, magickal act by magickal act. This, then, is how one truly thinks as a practitioner of magick. If you are ready to start on a magickal path, our Witchcraft Spell Book: The Complete Guide of Witchcraft Rituals & Spells for Beginners Kindle book can help you begin. See all our Kindle books and magickal ebooks.

Magick to the Rescue Part 4: Heads Up Procrastinators!

Earlier in this series Magick to the Rescue:
Part 1 
Part 2 
Part 3

Have you been a chronic procrastinator all your life? Or maybe you are just facing a truly mountainous task and you have no idea where to begin... so the best solution seems to be to not get started at all.

Welcome to the world of procrastination. Some of us have been citizens of this nation for decades while others just stop in on travel visas from time to time. Regardless, when you are in the land of procrastination you usually feel stuck, unmotivated, clueless, and guilty, yet not guilty enough to get you motivated to start on the task.

Heads up procrastinators! Feel guilty and stuck no more. In this article we will explain the most common reasons for procrastination, as well as a magickal solution that will kick you into gear so fast that your head will spin!

Common Reasons for Procrastination
As you might have already guessed, one of the most common reasons for procrastination is not knowing where to start. If you don't know how or where to take the first step, the second and third steps are definitely out of the question. If you have ever sat in a 12-step meeting, you will often hear the slogan, "You only have to take the first step to begin." While that is certainly true for 12-step programs, which have 12 neatly outlined steps, this offers little hope for those of us who don't have such a handy list... either for life or for a particularly nasty task.

Another group of procrastinators suffer from "list phobia." List phobia is simply the act of reading down a list and immediately getting stuck on the first item that you don't understand. Suppose you are given a list of seven instructions on how to perform a specific task. You might read through steps one and two just fine, because you understand what each step is asking you to do. But step three may turn out to be the show-stopper of the century for you. If you don't understand step number three, and you have list phobia, chances are high that you will never even read steps four through seven. Your mind will be so busy spinning around trying to figure out step three that you don't even remember steps one and two.

The third group of procrastinators get stuck when they can't figure out every single step required to complete a task. Suppose you are asked to put together a bridal shower for a co-worker. You might know most of the steps, but there are a few tasks that still baffle you. Perhaps you can't figure which types of flower arrangements would be best, or whether your co-worker would enjoy the usual bridal shower games or not. Or maybe you are not sure whether you should invite certain guests, and whether one or more people would get their feelings hurt if they were not invited. These are just examples of decisions that baffle this third group of procrastinators. The members in this group can't proceed until they have every single detail figured out. Flying by the seat of their pants is definitely NOT an option.

There are, of course, other reasons that people procrastinate. However, from a magkical perspective, almost all procrastination stem from a single misunderstanding. The easiest way to handle all forms of procrastination, then, would be to clear up this misunderstanding so that all of us in the nation of procrastination can migrate to the land of motivation and action.

The Magickal Cause of Procrastination
Although there appear to be multiple reasons that people procrastinate, magickally there is only one single reasons for this delaying tactic. The reason comes from a misunderstanding of the steps of the Magickal Creation Sequence. The Magickal Creation Sequence is just what it sounds like--these are the steps any magickal practitioner takes to create anything in life... from wealth and love to a harmonious family life or a fulfilling career. The order of steps in this sequence is unknown to most people in the world, hence there are a lot of procrastinators in the world!

So what is this big magickal mixup? The confusion arises from people putting two important steps in reverse order. These two steps are called the base decision and the control decisions. The definition of these two steps is simple.

Base Decision = The Yes/No decision to move ahead with the project or task

Control Decisions = The detailed decisions required to carry out the various action steps in the project or task

In our society, most of us are taught that we must first create a complete and thorough action plan before we decide whether to proceed with a project, a new business, or a marriage proposal. This principle of placing control decisions (the "how to" steps of an undertaking) before making the base decision (the "Go/No Go" decision) is the basis of most business plans. In today's world you have little hope of getting a bank loan or investor funding for a new business unless you have created a business plan that thoroughly outlines all the control steps that will be taken to ensure the business is a success.

Unfortunately, from a magickal standpoint, the creation of a business plan before deciding whether to proceed with creating the business is putting the cart before the horse. In magickal circles, the Creation Sequence tells us that we must make the base decision first. In other words, we have to decide whether we want to start a business or not before ever even thinking about how we will go about starting that business or making it a success.

While the idea of putting the base decision before the control decisions might seem a little reckless and irresponsible, it makes more sense when you consider the sequence from the Universe's point of view. While we humans like to think that we are the masters of our kingdom, the fact of the matter is that we could achieve barely one-hundredth of what we achieve without the co-creative help of the Universe. Certainly elbow grease and sweat equity plays a big role in the success of any enterprise, but how many of the people who are at the head of such enterprises have not prayed or asked for help from some higher being? Very few, if any.

The magickal reason to put the base decision before the control decisions is that the base decision alerts the Universe that we have a desire, and we invite the Universe to help us fulfill that desire with as little heartache and as few headaches as possible. By announcing our desires by making a positive base decision, we empower the Universe to get started right away in helping us fulfill that desire.

If, on the other hand, we get bogged down in control decisions, with no small amount of confusion, the Universe can't really decipher whether we really want to fulfill a desire or we are just playing around with ideas. Once the Universe gets the message that we have made a "Go" base decision, it immediately begins aligning the necessary resources, events, interactions, and other "coincidental" happenings that will help us fulfill our desire. With this kind of Universal orchestration, the number of control decisions we need to make along the way diminishes drastically. The Universe actually takes over the lead in the co-creative dance, and we simply need to remain open and aware to the many forms of guidance and help the Universe constantly drops on our path.

If you really like the feeling of your own sweat, blood, and tears, then by all means play with your control decisions before making your base decision. But if you prefer to tell the Universe, "I want this!" and then have the Universe help you make the necessary control decisions along the way, then choose to make your base decision first. You will work less and achieve more. You will produce more and enjoy more. Work will become play and play will become work. And procrastination becomes something you used to do. What more could you ask for?

Ready to stop procrastinating about making the decision to introduce magick into your life? We have plenty of free resources, online courses, ebooks, and Kindle books to help you get on the magickal road to making life easier and more joyful.


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Magick To The Rescue Part 3: Find Your Spirit Path

Earlier in this series Magick to the Rescue:
Part 1 
Part 2 

"If you don't know where you want to go, anywhere will do." -- Chinese Proverb

For many highly-driven people in today's society, not having a goal and direction and purpose is the equivalent of walking blindly through life. Many of us are taught from childhood to always know where we want to go and what we want to do. What if we don't know? Horrors! The shame of it all!

The funny thing about many people who claim that they know where they want to go and what they want to do is that they may know the "where" and "what" of their life, but these may not reflect their true desires. Maybe they are doctors, lawyers, consultants, software programmers, or commanders in the military. And maybe holding such valued positions makes their parents happy. And maybe making their parents or spouses happy makes them happy. But are these people who know the "where and why" of their lives really and truly happy? Or do they simply feel less pressured because others are not constantly pushing them to hold higher and better positions.

The real question is this: Are these people not only happy, but are they walking their Spirit path?

What Is Your Spirit Path?
 This is a question that few people ask themselves. What, indeed, is one's Spirit path? The answer is simple. From a magickal and shamanic point of view, a person's Spirit path is the path they chose to walk this lifetime. This choice was made during the interval between the last lifetime and this lifetime. Or, depending on whether one believes in multiple lifetimes, one could simply say that this choice was made before incarnating in this lifetime.

Having and following a Spirit path does not mean a person is fated to do certain things in this lifetime, with no choices or options. Instead, a Spirit path is designed so that a person encounters certain circumstances, events, people, and dilemmas. The confluence of all of these factors are designed to allow that person to learn certain lessons, complete certain entanglements with other people, clean up old fears, pay old debts to others, and any number of other lessons.

The Spirit path is full of choices and options and lessons. Some of these will be easy and some will be more difficult. Some of these lessons can be so difficult that a person may choose to "opt out" of this lifetime, either to try again in another lifetime or abandon this lifetime altogether.
The most important factor to remember about one's Spirit path is that one can always do a "Stop-Change-Start." A "Stop-Change-Start" is exactly what it sounds like. Suppose you can't handle a lesson that you designed for yourself on your Spirit path. The lesson is too difficult and you cannot find your way through the lesson. No problem. At any point on your Spirit path you can opt to do a "Stop-Change-Start," That is, you can decide that you want to stop the progress of a particular lesson, change the circumstances so you take a detour on your Spirit path, and start walking a new Spirit path. As humans, one of our greatest gifts (and greatest curses) is that we have complete free will. While we may have thought that a particular lesson was the perfect idea between lifetimes, we may start learning that lesson during our current lifetime only to discover that the lesson isn't appropriate at all. That's when we exercise our free will and change the circumstances and walk a different route on our Spirit path.

Regardless of whether you follow the Spirit path that you designed prior to this lifetime or not, as long as you walk your Spirit path you will get a lot out of it. Whether you learn certain lessons, clear up old karmic debts, undo old entanglements with others, or discover new Spiritual skills and talents, walking your Spirit path will give you a major Spiritual boost and advance you along your Spiritual development so that you ascend one or more levels in your Spiritual evolution.

How to Find Your Spirit Path
 How does one go about discovering one's Spirit path or find out whether one is already walking one's Spirit path? There are as many different ways as there are Spiritual leaders, books, and so forth. But you don't need a guru to help you discover your Spiritual path, although you will most likely encounter many angels and higher beings if you invite them into your life to help you. Here are some simple ways to discover your Spirit path.

#1 -- Revisit Your Old Wounds
 One of the best indicators of the lessons you are meant to learn on your Spirit path is the wounds you have encountered so far in your life. These wounds are usually mental or emotional, or sometimes physical. Look back to when you have felt most wounded by some situation. Often the situation feels unfair and unjustified. For instance, perhaps you were laid off from your job or passed over for promotion. Perhaps your child was born with some terrible illness requiring constant care, preventing you from following your dreams. Or maybe you had an encounter with a series of people that hurt you emotionally, so much so that you think of it often or cannot sleep because of it.

Whatever your old wounds, these are indicators of lessons you are to learn. How can you get past the heartache and pain that these old wounds have inflicted upon you? If you can find no way to get around such pain, ask an angel or the Spirit of Owl for help.  If you are not sure how to work with these beings take a look at our articles - How to Amp Up Your Relationship with the Universe, Spirit Guides: Guardian Angel Prayer and Another Magical Ritual to Help You See Your Financial Blind Spots. Or get a deck of Medicine Cards (easily available online) and do a spread as instructed in the book. Or simply shuffle the deck and pull the first card that calls to you. Read the meaning of the particular animal card you chose and read the meaning in the book. This simple method is often enough to give you the information you seek.

#2 -- Use the Conscious Choice Exercise
 The Conscious Choice exercise is exactly how it sounds. You simply go through your day and make Conscious Choices. This type of choice, as opposed to the choices we make by habit each day, is a way of receiving direct communication from your Spirit.

Start this exercise with small choices in your life. For instance, use this exercise to decide what you will eat for breakfast each day, or what clothes you choose to wear. To do this exercise, simply make a choice by first saying, "I will now make a Conscious Choice. Do I choose to ...[put the choice here] or choose to... [put second choice here]." Then follow the first response you receive. You may hear the choice as your own voice in your mind, or you may hear some commentary on TV. However you get your answer, just know that you will get an immediate response. Even if the answer is simply a feeling, follow that response. The key to this exercise is that you MUST follow the first response you get. The choice has been made. This is the reason for starting with small decisions. After all, how much heartache can you suffer from eating cereal rather than toast for breakfast?
After you have done this exercise for 7 or 11 days, and feel comfortable, move on to bigger decisions. Depending on your level of comfort with risk, upgrade the level of your decisions at a rate that is comfortable with your level of risk. As you move to bigger and bigger decisions. The bigger decisions will guide you with certainty along your Spirit path. You will begin to recognize when you are following your Spirit path by a feeling or inner taste. Trust this and you will walk your certain path with no problem.

#3 -- Do Something You Fear Each Day
 Eleanor Roosevelt was famous for saying this. And she was right. Fears are the markers of lessons we need to learn or debts we have to pay. As with the Conscious Choice exercise, start small and work your way up. Start with small fears, such as wearing socks that don't match or speaking up in a group setting when you would normally remain silent. As you gain confidence that you have the ability to walk where you feared to walk in the past, move slowly up the levels of fear. Learn to trust the fact that though fear may always be present, it no longer needs to block your path or prevent your forward progress on your Spirit path. Instead, let fear simply remain in your life, but ask fear to walk beside you instead of in front of you. In this way, as you move up the ladder of fears, as you feel comfortable doing so, you will begin to see fear as a friendly companion, marking the way along your Spiritual path. Let fear become a beacon, guiding you from place to place, walking beside you, now acting as a lighthouse rather than a barrier.
Often fear is a marker of a lesson that we must learn. Yet fear remains fear, and often we cannot face fear without the help of others. Seek out the type of help that most suits you. Read stories of people who have conquered greater fears than you have ever imagined... and you will find that your fears shrink to a manageable level. Seek help in flower essences such as Mimulus, which is a wonderful essence to help you get past known fears. Hire an angel--there are always hundreds begging for you to ask them for help. Or,even better, use the Conscious Choice exercise to discover tools and skills to help you put fear in its proper place--as a companion who walks with you and helps rather than hinders your progress on your Spirit path.

At the End of the Day
 There are more ways to find your Spirit path than can be described in a single article. For more ideas, browse through our library of articles and find dozens of different magickal techniques to help you. For more tips delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter list. Or check out our books on Amazon. Or simply pick up any book, flip it open to a random page, and follow the guidance of the first sentence or phrase that you read. The Universe is always coordinating events so that the perfect guidance and ideas show up to move us in the right direction along out Spirit path. Most of all, enjoy the journey. Joyfulness, perhaps more than any emotion, will keep your progress along your Spirit path smooth, fun, and a boon to others who walk with you on your path!



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