“Dad, why isn’t my spell working?” she asked, a little quiver in her lip. “I did all the instructions and used all the things in the kit you gave me.”
“Well hon, let’s have a look at what you did. You have the candle here, and the oil. You did the ribbon and the glitter for the candle. It all looks right to me. Are you sure your spell didn’t work?”
“Mom says the spell kit is fake and I should get my money back. Bobby was supposed to fall in love with me!”
“Well, mom isn’t helping. How about you look at what *is* happening? You see this boy a lot around the park. What’s he doing?”
“He comes to see me every day! He brings me presents and tells me jokes and we laugh all the time, and we sneak picnic lunches out to the woods, but he hasn’t fallen in love with me.”
At this point, I had to go full Socrates “Okay, so what would it look like? What would he be doing if he *were* in love with you?”
[Long pause] “Oh my god.”
(Based on actual events involving my youngest apprentice who is also my oldest child)
“The key to magic is being in tune with all of nature” according to eleventy thousand different spirituality books. I tend to disagree. In my mind, as a specifically American magic-using person, I have to give this one up to none other than Benjamin Franklin, who literally coined the perfect phrase.
“Mind your business”. This simple phrase is an entire philosophy unto itself, a philosophy I can share with you today.
There are a lot of books on mindfulness, as it’s very popular these days. Lots of techniques for “getting out of your own head” to reduce anxiety, to maintain focus, and such. For the Mage, mindfulness can be that but it can also be instrumental for gauging success and staying on target.
When you cast a spell, typically you’re going to be watching for the results you asked for. You keep running to the window to see if your friend arrived yet, or popping open the oven door to see if your cake is done. It’s frustrating, and does nothing for your work, let alone your confidence.
Crowley cautioned against casting with “the lust of result”, which is wisdom. But magic isn’t a Stinger missile that you fire and forget – it’s a living, growing, breathing thing that you brought into being and it must be maintained. But how tightly can you hold on before it gives up and fizzles out? You WANT results, of course, or you wouldn’t have cast in the first place, right?
So my recommendation, which you came here for, is a kind of poised attention. Be the cat, not the dog. The dog goes chasing after the toy whether you throw it or not, but the cat *stalks* it. He watches to see where it goes, what it does, and how to get it.
Likewise, when you cast your spell, you can’t just go over to Bootsy Wilder’s house, bang on the door and ask “Do you love me yet?……. How about now?”
You have to *observe*.
Watch everything to see what happens. Don’t just look for the one thing you expected–results can come in many forms, some of which you would never expect. Pull back and observe the entire situation, both around your target and around yourself. There’s a lot going on in the world, and it’s easy to miss something that might indicate success and jeopardize your entire plan.
So in this case, the Mage isn’t watching the mailbox for his letter. He’s watching the entire house to see what messages come, and from whom. Magic always takes the path of least resistance, which often isn’t the path you decided on, or even a logical expectation.
Don’t be the guy sitting around depressed, thinking “I cast for her to love me and she doesn’t! She keeps coming over to borrow things or return them, and I keep running into her in public and she’s bought me coffee like four times! When is she going to LOVE ME??”
So keep your eyes and mind open. Your work might manifest in a way you never expected, and it might be even better than you had planned on! Mind your business in all aspects, and you’ll be a successful Mage at the end of the day.
END CREDIT SCENE: Bobby did in fact fall in love with her. He slipped her a note in the playhouse and confessed his feelings, and they both freaked out and ran away. A love story for the ages.
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