How Do You Use Magic in Your Practice?

[MidnightLetter]

I know not everyone uses it, but for those that do...what do you use it for? Do you do random spell for everything you can think of? Do you only use it in special occasions? How do you look at the use of magic on others? Are there things that you feel magic shouldn't be used for, or is it useful for everything?

For those of you who don't used magic...why don't you use it? Is it just not something that is a part of your path, or is there some other reason?

Feel free to discuss and share.

 

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I don't define magic as simply spellwork, but the manipulation of energy for a purpose. So cleansing, charging, warding.... all that is magic to me.

I used to use it to create sacred space, but recently I've been blotting rather than casting circle, and the "hammer rite" essentially asks the might of Mjolnir to ward and hale a place, rather than you doing it yourself. It's quite fascinating to note the difference, and rather special to feel it happen.

But anyway. I use magic in lots of little ways, things that are such a part of my day that I don't really think "magic" when I do them. Things that are so little and mundane that they don't really jump to the mind.  

[AiRune]

I'm also of the energy-manipulation mindset, but I tend to reserve it for mundane things like attempting to make the light change quicker or putting up barriers so I don't get overwhelmed by others. Reason that I don't use it for anything bigger is that it's very easy to cross the line of manipulating others, especially when you don't have all the facts. Instead, I focus on myself and fine tuning my intuition so that I'll know what mundane actions to take at the right time.  

[doistu]

I think almost all things have magical potential in them. I use my magic everyday and as often as I feel necessary. Stemming from mundane wishes to full-blown rituals and celebrations.

I often feel that my magic has to be little because there's rarely a time when I'm alone. I live with my parents and they know I'm into paganism but rather keep their noses out. I feel uncomfortable doing ritual and spell work if they're around.  

[Kyreie]

Sanguina-chan

I don't define magic as simply spellwork, but the manipulation of energy for a purpose. So cleansing, charging, warding.... all that is magic to me.

I think of it the same way. I don't do magic on a daily basis but I do use it fairly often. I don't use magic on others, unless it's a special situation like protection or stopping criminal or something. I don't believe in interfering with someone's free will if at all possible, I won't perform a love spell for someone for example.

I always try to consider all possible consequences when I do perform magic. It's too easy to cross the line and get into something I don't understand or I'm not ready to deal with yet!  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

I don't use magic in my path.
Yet xd

I don't use it at present simply because I do not know enough about it to use it wisely.  

[Mirenithil]

Sanguina-chan

But anyway. I use magic in lots of little ways, things that are such a part of my day that I don't really think "magic" when I do them. Things that are so little and mundane that they don't really jump to the mind.

Same here. Driving down the road, I shield if I feel the need; driving my old car, I actually -have- to put a whammy on the traffic signal to get it to change if I'm the only car waiting at an intersection, since that car doesn't trigger the sensor switches at the intersections. I do cleansings... all this little stuff.

I do formal sit-down-and-plan-it-out magic maybe once every couple years. It really isn't something that comes up too often. The last truly elaborate thing I did was on the night of Sept 11th, 2001, in fact, a freezing/binding spell to stop the terrorists from doing anything else harmful either to us or to themselves. (I don't believe my spell alone was efficacious; I'm certain there were a hundred thousand other magic workers across the country doing the same thing.)

As an aside, I think it's perfectly normal for people new to magic and especially for teens who are new to magic to go through a phase where they use it a -lot-, perhaps even casting a spell every day. That kind of enthusiasm wears off after a while as magic loses its 'exotic' luster and becomes something that's just as ordinary a part of everyday life as the refrigerator. I think it's useful, because you learn your limitations; you learn what kinds of magic you're good at and which kinds you may as well be talking to a wall with. Your intuitive sense grows, and you may even find that after a while that since you can now -feel- the changes that occur when magic is afoot that you can start casting some spells without using any material objects at all.

Quote:

Are there things that you feel magic shouldn't be used for, or is it useful for everything?

That is something every magic user has to decide for themselves. European based magic of the variety you will find taught in books sold in bookstores such as your local Borders is nearly exclusively 'white' or 'ladyhearted' magic and, even if you're not christian and you don't believe in the notion of sin, the idea has been drilled so deeply into the common psyche that many folks will have a kneejerk negative reaction to even the notion of gray magic. Folk traditions of many other cultures are less shy about gray or 'black' magic (though practitioners of dark arts, such as bokors, are often loudly reviled.)

A thread discussing gray magic might be appropriate, because I'd like to address that kneejerk negative reaction directly. In short, I think it's overhasty to automatically judge any gray magic as 'bad.' (Some people judge it as 'bad' because its aim is often to violate your target's free will to an extent, and they hold free will above all else to be sacrosanct.) However, putting criminals in prison is quite a serious violation of their free will, yet we condone the system that does that. I see gray magic, judiciously, wisely applied, as no different.

I will use magic in any situation where I feel directed by the Great Spirit to use it. I have used gray magic before (Sept 11th,) and if the need arises I will do so again without hesitation.

I avoid practitioners of any magic that is purely harmful/spiteful/damaging or purely selfish in the most negative sense.  

[Aryain Flames]

I do magick, certainly! not exactly every day, tho when i'm stressed i might hum a chant or somthing. in general, i save major magick for the holidays and esbats.  

[mechanical kitsy]

i haven't done any of much over the past few months... all of my ritual tools and spell tools are back at my grandmas all boxed up, and i'm flat broke.
plus, i haven't felt like it.  

[RubyLight]

I don't use magic, specific to my path. However, I do practice various forms of divination and manifestation.  

[Tari_Leralonde]

I use magick all the time =) In the mornings I set up a 'net' around myself(I use a net instead of a shield because a net transmutes all negative energy into positive, whereas a shield blocks all negative energy). Then through out the day, I use little chants and visualizations to help me concentrate and clear my mind and stuff like that.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

Do you think there's such thing as using magic too much?

Like I said, I don't currently practice spellworking or energy working of any kind, but I can really understand things like shielding and the sort. But when you're using magic to help you with every little thing...well, it strikes me as a sort of unhealthy dependency.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Well, if you were doing like a spell for every problem that crossed your path, yeah. I think most of us are talking about little things you don't really think about, but that you do because they're... well, it's like feeling energies becomes a part of your daily life. It's not big and impressive or anything like that but it's just something you tend to do. A kitchen witch might put a little bit of energy into everything she cooks or bakes simply because that's who she is, and what she does, and how she relates to the world.

I don't consider that I use it very much, but it really depends on where you draw the line between what is magic and what is not. Every time I walk past a tree I reach out and touch it. If I have the time and there isn't, like, a tree every two paces, I'll exchange a little energy (sort of) with the tree as a form of greeting. Is this magic, or not? It's manipulating energy, and doing it for a purpose, but as it's simply a form of communication, and since it's so little and fairly easy, does it count?

Does talking to the dead count? Does divination - does some divination count and not others? (I know after a big tarot reading I'm wiped, but scrying doesn't seem to use any energy at all... not that I can scry intentionally, but whatever.) What about journeying? What about reaching out to something or someone to sense its energy - like journeying but only with one arm, reaching across the road to a tree?

I tend to frown a little at people who do spells all the time, because I think that there are other ways to deal with problems that should also be considered. But at the same time, I don't think most people who use magic in their every-day lives are using it as a crutch. It merely becomes a part of who you are as a person. I've been doing it so long I can't remember ever not doing it... theoretically I must have been not-doing it at one point, but when that point is I have no idea. I may have been doing little bits and bobs for years before I discovered Neo-Wicca and Paganism. I do know that I wrote a spell before I discovered that witchcraft actually existed... a very simple one, actually, getting right down to the heart of witchcraft without even realising it: a chant, raising energy to a peak, and then releasing it all at once.

It totally worked, too. Took a couple years, but it worked. It wasn't until years later that I really remembered it and realised that it actually was a spell.

Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

Sanguina-chan

Well, if you were doing like a spell for every problem that crossed your path, yeah. I think most of us are talking about little things you don't really think about, but that you do because they're... well, it's like feeling energies becomes a part of your daily life. It's not big and impressive or anything like that but it's just something you tend to do. A kitchen witch might put a little bit of energy into everything she cooks or bakes simply because that's who she is, and what she does, and how she relates to the world.

I can understand that 3nodding .
I know you guys are all talking more so about smaller things...it was just a point I had thought of.

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I don't consider that I use it very much, but it really depends on where you draw the line between what is magic and what is not. Every time I walk past a tree I reach out and touch it. If I have the time and there isn't, like, a tree every two paces, I'll exchange a little energy (sort of) with the tree as a form of greeting. Is this magic, or not? It's manipulating energy, and doing it for a purpose, but as it's simply a form of communication, and since it's so little and fairly easy, does it count?

For me...I don't think I'd count it as a magical working. But I guess the definition would depend on the person who is actually doing it.

Quote:

Does talking to the dead count? Does divination - does some divination count and not others? (I know after a big tarot reading I'm wiped, but scrying doesn't seem to use any energy at all... not that I can scry intentionally, but whatever.) What about journeying? What about reaching out to something or someone to sense its energy - like journeying but only with one arm, reaching across the road to a tree?

I think there was a small "Does using divination make me a witch?" discussion on the PoG thread before...and I think what that boiled down to as well was it depends on the practitioner.

Quote:

I tend to frown a little at people who do spells all the time, because I think that there are other ways to deal with problems that should also be considered. But at the same time, I don't think most people who use magic in their every-day lives are using it as a crutch. It merely becomes a part of who you are as a person. I've been doing it so long I can't remember ever not doing it... theoretically I must have been not-doing it at one point, but when that point is I have no idea. I may have been doing little bits and bobs for years before I discovered Neo-Wicca and Paganism. I do know that I wrote a spell before I discovered that witchcraft actually existed... a very simple one, actually, getting right down to the heart of witchcraft without even realising it: a chant, raising energy to a peak, and then releasing it all at once.

Yea that's more the type of person I had in mind; the one who does a luck spell, a money spell, a love spell, a spell for weather, asks their cards what color shoes to wear, etc...all in like one day eek . I would consider that kind of usage to be crutch-like, but that's me.

I know that many people who use magic don't use it as a crutch wink .

Quote:

It totally worked, too. Took a couple years, but it worked. It wasn't until years later that I really remembered it and realised that it actually was a spell.

Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent.

Is okay heart .  

[wicca_for_life14]

i hardly ever use magic for day to day things to help myself. i use it for others like when any of my friends are sad i chant a spell for relaxation. right now my current project is making a personal sigil