People often contact me when a friend or family member is trying to use magick in self-serving ways.

They worry that the individual will harm her (or him) self.  Or, they worry that other people will be injured by the spells.

From my experience, the person usually has to learn some hard lessons on his (or her) own.  Whether the person is casting spells, using Catholic novenas, or hiring some mystic to do the work for him… it’s still going to go awry.

Yes, the person can harm herself (or himself).  However, the discomfort is usually minor and fleeting.  The person learns a lesson from the experience, and the problems dissipate quickly.

Friends and family ask if “bad” spells can hurt other people.  The simple answer is:  Not usually.

Unless the other person in the spell is aware of what’s going on and/or is without spiritual protection, the spells can’t do damage to anyone else. It doesn’t work that way.

When someone else gets sick, it’s usually a coincidence.

Note: I’ve seen people get sick because a spell hastened their karma, but that’s all.

No one can ruin anyone else’s life — with magick or any other cosmic or spiritual force — unless that other person opens the door to it.

If the person affected was part of that kind of spell and knew it… well, there are two people who have some hard lessons ahead.

HOW TO HELP THEM

All you can do is gently advise your friend or family member that self-serving magick is unlikely to work for good.

There are hundreds of thousands of witches in America. I’ve heard of one — just one — winning a big lottery, ever. If windfalls were possible with magick, every weekly lottery would be won by a witch, a mystic, etc.

Beyond gental guidance, the best thing you can do is use your own spiritual practices for protection.  Whether that’s prayer, casting protection, sending the person (or people)  healing/strengthening energy, or whatever… that’s all you can do.

Each of us has power, and each of us has free will.  We must learn to use those gifts wisely, or see them diminished with each false step.

Note: Binding or bottling can be used in extreme cases, but it can be a grave mistake to use either of those techniques casually.  I generally recommend against them.

All of your friends and family members have their own paths.  Each will find that path in his or her own way.

In the meantime, when anyone uses magick to benefit by keeping others down, the energy returns in ways that reduce his (or her) power for future magick.

That’s how it works.  Almost every spiritual doctrine includes a clear warning about that.

HEALING COMES FIRST

Whether or not magick (or any other spiritual practice) causes the person harm or unhappiness beyond its failure… well, that depends on how bitter or even malicious the person’s intentions are.

Unhappy people tend to look for shortcuts in life.  They feel short-changed by life, and usually see nothing wrong when their intentions (spells, prayers, etc.) could short-change — or even harm — others.

(I usually hear something like, “Oh, I don’t mean to harm him… just make him see how my life feels.”)

Those are issues best addressed by a counsellor.  It’s about the mental and/or emotional health of the person.  Magick is simply how he or she is expressing it.

MAGICK – WHAT WORKS

Magick works best for good and from the inside.  That’s where the real power is, regardless of your spiritual path.

Magick empowers those who are already happy within themselves.  It can also help those who need to find that level of contentment.

Once you’ve achieved a level of self-awareness and personal power, you can use magick to direct that power — with the aid of the gods — to improve the world around you.

That’s when you’re most likely to attract the best that life and the gods can give you, including love, laughter and wealth to make the world a better place.