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.

Can magick make me rich?  Can I win the love of someone with Witchcraft?

I hear questions like these every day.

The answer is yes… and no.

YES, MAGICK CAN MAKE YOU WEALTHY AND LOVED

You can use any spiritual path — not just Wicca or Witchcraft — to improve yourself in ways that will make you more successful or more attractive.  The difference is, magick often addresses these issues more directly than “positive thinking” or similar spiritual approaches.

That’s what magick does very well.  It improves a person from the inside, and makes him or her a more able, powerful individual.

Able, powerful individual tend to do good things to help the world around them.  The world responds with money — at least enough to live comfortably — admiration, love and even more opportunities for success.

However, it all starts from the inside.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY

I’ve never heard a reliable spell to “make me the richest person in my town” or “make so-and-so fall in love with me.”

Someone who is determined to use spiritual forces solely for personal gain… that’s not going to work, no matter which path or practice she (or he) chooses.

I have yet to hear a lottery winner say, “I prayed to God (or the gods) and that’s how I won.”  (They may say something about that later, but the initial reaction is almost always, “I won!” without any spiritual reference.)

HOW IT GOES WRONG

Too often, I hear about sickness and misfortune caused by attempts to manipulate the world around the aspiring Witch or Wiccan.

Those spells often include altering the will of others, or casting for  “comparative” results.  At its core, that’s a self-esteem issue.

That is, the aspiring Witch (or Wiccan) doesn’t want to be wealthy enough to be comfortable.  He or she wants to be richer than other people.  It’s about proving his (or her) worth to others… and to him (or her) self.

Spells cast with that mindset are usually worthless at best. It doesn’t matter what the wording is, the “magick” behind spells (or rituals or prayers) is the intent more than the phrasing.

The person can say, “an it harm none,” as much as he wants… if he really intends to be more powerful, richer, or whatever… compared with others, he’s still casting spells that will raise himself while holding others down.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR SPELLS

If you’re the one who’s struggling to become wealthy or attract the love of a particular person, change your spells immediately.

Cast to improve yourself as a person.  Ask the help of the gods to make you more worthy of attracting wealth or love, in general.

Then, starting living a better life.  Every time you see a way to help others, do so.