Mama Cat's Pearls of Wisdom #11 - A Big Pearl, but a Worthy One.
A lot of people come to me who want to learn to do spells, and certain people (the same type) often complain that their spells "aren't working." This type of person is obviously very anxious about their situation when I met them (often understandably,) which is why they claim they have had the "desperation" to turn to spellcraft. No, it doesn't often start with "I was curious about spellcraft," it usually begins with some dramatic story, which unfolds even more dramatically, and then "I figured spellcraft was my last resort, so in desperation, I turned to spells."
The problem is that you should have started before it became desperate, if it really is desperate - or is it that YOU are the thing that's desperate and not the situation itself? Desperate means life or death to me. Like, if I literally don't have somethinng, I'll die. So...food, water, shelter, heat...okay, this is desperate if I lack this stuff...but I'd see that coming, short of a DISASTER/EMERGENCY, right? I mean, I'd have problems paying my bills, collectors would call, my food stores would run dry, I'd have eviction notices... And obviously if some unexpected unforseen emergency happens, this may be desperate, but in such cases, one usually (not always) has emergency-aid services for some help. Sure, desperate unforseen situations with no forthcoming help happen, and then you are not to blame for not using your spells before the situation turned sour... I'm saying most of these folks see it coming a while off.
What isn't a desperate situation is for example breaking up with someone. It makes you feel desperate to fix it, but you won't literally die of dehydration, exposure, etc. You are making yourself feel that way. I know it sounds cold to say it, but its not a life or death situation, despite some people making it out to be. Since desperation is something I swear people can smell like dogs smell fear, I recommend not allowing yourself to sweat that stench out while trying to fix a social situation. Desperation + relationships/social situations = failure. For real.
So I repeat, with spells you should have started the spell before it became desperate (excluding unforseen emergencies of course,) like when the state threatened to take your house, or the day you lost your job, or etc...
Or if it feels desperate (generally a social situation,) you need to to remind yourself this is not a life or death situation. Why? Because when you do, you will stop transferring all your fear and anxiety onto any sort of means you might use to fix this situation, be that through spellwork, or even just mundane actions. A freaked out person is more likely to "act weird" and scare off someone they wish to reconcile, they are apt to panic, and more or less degrade their situation further due to this.
As you can see, grace under pressure is not a common thing for me to see or hear about. ;)
So... Here's an idea - try it, you'll like it.
1.) Use the spellwork BEFORE the situation becomes desperate or FEELS desperate.
2.) Drop the desperation and panic if you can't help but apply it to your spellcraft. If you're up at night all freaking out because your spell isn't working and (add expletives or blasphemy here,) why isn't it starting to manifest already, and omigod can I just take a peek and test it and show the universe I have no faith in this spell for just a second so I can know its working...etc.... Then you aren't ready to cast a spell. You have no faith in the spell. You have already decided though you want the situation to work, it won't work. So its up to you - will you CALM DOWN, and stop panicking and put your faith in the spellwork you're doing? Or are you going to keep panicking, showing doubt in yourself and in your work, and more or less doing all things out of desperation? (doing things out of desperation = bad idea.)
I hope that made sense. Me+ my hayfever meds = weird sentences. ;)
~Cat
Article and image copyright Originalninjacat, all rights reserved.
