Does Magic Work? What Happens After You Cast a Spell

It is one of the most common questions people ask about magic:

Does it really work?

Perhaps a better question is: What happens after you cast a spell?

Many people approach a spell as though the ritual itself were the entire process. They light the candle, say the prayer, apply the oil or perfume, prepare the poppet, carry the amulet, or perform whatever ritual they have chosen. Then they wait.

But magical practice has traditionally involved more than simply performing a set of actions.

Think of casting a spell as planting a seed in the spiritual world.

Your intention is the seed.
Your ritual plants it.
Your words, thoughts, faith, and actions help nourish it.

And just like a seed planted in the earth, constantly digging it up to see whether it has begun to grow does not help the process.

Your Mind Is Part of the Ritual

Imagine performing a spell for prosperity while thinking:

This probably isn't going to work.

Or saying a prayer for love while another part of your mind is repeating:

Nothing ever works for me.

You may be saying one thing with your words while sending yourself a completely different message with your thoughts.

This is why intention matters so much in magical practice.

Before the ritual, decide clearly what you are asking for.

During the ritual, bring your attention back to that intention. Say your prayer deliberately. Visualize the outcome you are seeking. Allow your words, thoughts, and actions to point in the same direction.

And when the ritual is finished, resist the temptation to immediately begin questioning what you have just done.

You planted the seed.

Give it room to grow.

What You Do After the Spell Matters Too

Maintaining your intention does not mean pretending that something has already happened when it hasn't. Nor does it mean that every spell will produce exactly the result you imagined.

Magic is not about controlling every person, circumstance, or event around us.

Instead, after performing your spiritual work, try to keep your thoughts and actions aligned with the possibility you have asked to enter your life.

If you performed a prosperity ritual, pay attention to opportunities.

If you prayed for a new job, send the applications.

If your work was intended to open roads, be willing to walk through a door when one appears.

If you asked for love, allow yourself to meet people and be seen.

Spiritual practice and practical action do not have to compete with each other. They can work together.

Your Magical Tools Help You Focus

Candles, perfumes, spiritual oils, amulets, incense, herbs, poppets and other ritual objects have been used in many traditions as tools for prayer, intention and spiritual practice.

But the object is not a substitute for the person using it.

A perfume can remind you of your intention every time you wear it. A candle can give you a focal point for prayer. An amulet can become a physical reminder of what you are seeking. A poppet can help give form to an intention that otherwise exists only in your thoughts.

The tool helps you focus.

You bring the intention.

Don't Dig Up the Seed

One of the hardest parts of spiritual work may be what comes afterward.

Waiting.

You may feel tempted to look constantly for evidence that something is happening. You may wonder whether you performed the ritual correctly. You may even decide, only hours later, that nothing is going to happen.

Remember the seed.

A gardener does not plant a seed in the morning and dig it up that afternoon because there is no flower yet.

The gardener plants it, tends the soil, gives it what it needs and allows the process to unfold.

Approach your spiritual work in much the same way.

Set your intention.

Perform your ritual with purpose.

Then continue living, working, praying and moving toward what you asked for.

Perhaps the simplest way to remember it is this:

Before the spell, define your intention.
During the spell, focus your intention.
After the spell, protect your intention.

Plant the seed.

Then give it a chance to grow.

— Victoria Rey