A Beginners Guide to Paganism - Part 2

Magick Holds No Guarantees


Over the years I've received many letters from people who have done candle burning Magick, color Magick, and chanting. Most have had wonderful
things to report about how successful they were and how their life was changed; but there have also been those who complained that, no matter how hard they tried, they didn't get the results they wanted.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees with Magick. We can do everything correctly-use the right incense, the correct time of the month, perfectly colored candles-and still get nothing! Why is that?
One point of view is that the gods (God/Goddess/All-That-Is, depending upon your personal beliefs) are watching over us and have certain things planned. For example, a deserted wife may do all in her power to bring about the return of her husband (actually a "no-no"-see Chapter One), but to no avail. The reason is that the gods know he's a no-good deadbeat and she's far better off without him! Not only that, but they have a wonderful, ideal mate for her waiting in the wings, if she will only be patient until the time is right.
Actually, the time that it takes for Magick to work can have a bearing on our belief as to whether or not it worked at all. Sometimes the results are a long time in coming. There are many of us-myself included-who have found just such a scenario, but only recognized it in retrospect. At the time we think "why me?" or "why not me?" or perhaps "why isn't this working?" or "what have I done wrong?" It's only many weeks, months, or even years later that we can look back and say, "Oh! So that's why it didn't work!"
Perhaps the most frustrating situations are those centered on love. A man yearns for a certain woman, or a woman for a particular man. They do candle Magick but nothing happens; there is no "Magickal flash" bringing them together. Let's examine such a situation for a moment.
Jane Smith worships Frank Wilson from afar, but he doesn't seem to know she's alive. The temptation is for her to work Magick to bring him to her, but we know that wouldn't be right since it would interfere with his free will. What should she do? Jane should start by making a list of all the qualities that she likes about Frank. She should then modify the list to be all the qualities she would like to find in "the perfect mate." She might want a tall, blond, physically well-developed male with an interest in metaphysics, jazz, nature, and sailing, who is also a great dancer and classic-movie buff. If Frank fits this description, fine, but if not, she should not compromise. She should do her Magick to bring to her this "ideal mate"-not Frank specifically. If it turns out that Frank does fit the description, he may well suddenly notice her and take an interest; but it is just as likely that there is someone else (perhaps someone who has been worshipping Jane from afar, and whom she didn't know existed!) who fits the description even better, and who then appears on the scene.
By limiting your goal, such as by naming an individual, you are limiting your chances for success. It's something of a contradiction, but you need to be very general in what you aim for, and yet very specific. I'll talk more about this later.



Part 3

Sympathetic Magick


Candle burning Magick is based on what is known as sympathetic Magick. We find the earliest examples of this 25,000 years ago in the Paleolithic
preparations for hunting and fertility. By making a large, clay figure of a bear (or whichever animal was to be hunted), and by then sticking it with spears, early humans believed they would be able to influence the hunt which was to follow. They thought-indeed, they strongly believed-that the real hunt would go exactly as did the ritual hunt, and that they would successfully kill their prey. Similarly, they constructed almost life-sized, clay representations of two bison copulating, believing that this would cause the real bison to do the same, and ensure a continued food supply. Examples of these Magickal tools have been found in caves in the south of France and Spain.
In ancient Egypt, in 350 B.C.E., King Nectanebo II fought his battles in advance by making wax figures of his and his enemy's ships, and acting out the conflict to come-ensuring that he won, of course! He, too, believed that the real battle would duplicate his enacted one. From the earliest times there has been a tradition that says, if you have a figure which represents something real, whatever you do to that figure will cause the same thing to happen to who or what it represents. In other words, one is "in sympathy" with the other. This is the origin of sympathetic Magick.
We are all familiar with the black Magick doll stuck with pins, sometimes referred to erroneously as a "Voodoo doll." (This is not peculiar to followers of Voudoun, but is found universally.) The idea behind it is to make an image of a specific person, and then to bring pain or death to that person by sticking the doll with pins or melting it in front of a fire. Candle Magick is sympathetic Magick using candles to represent the participants in what is to be achieved. Candles also symbolize things such as Success, Money, Love, and Protection. By manipulating these candles you show what it is that you desire-for example, to bring success to yourself (moving one candle toward the other), or to draw love to a person (advancing two candles until they meet and join). It is the same principle as the "Voodoo doll," but working in a positive way.

What sort of results you can expect from your rituals is a hard question to answer, since there are no guarantees in Magick, as I pointed out in Chapter Two. Certainly there will be no "flash and a bang" with immediate, on-the-spot results. Usually you can expect to see the effects of your Magick anywhere from three days to a month later.
Some rituals can be done just once, while others need to be repeated over a period of time. The longer-working rituals don't necessarily need more time to show results, however; their effectiveness is in the buildup of power over time which can be far more potent than the results of one-time rituals.
Methods developed by many generations of candle burners dictate what is to be used to depict what. This is especially true where colors are concerned. In my earlier candle book we worked almost exclusively with color as a means of identification. In this book we will keep the traditional color symbolism, while examining more advanced techniques.*



Magick is a Power

Magick is a nebulous term. We've looked at definitions of the word, but these don't really help us to understand 
exactly what it is. Magick is a "power" of a sort. It is not electrical, although there have been many attempts to measure it as an electrical current, with some claims of success. It is probably closest to electricity in the ways it works, and that certainly serves as an excellent analogy. Electricity is a force which can be used for good or evil. It can bring power to a computer, a television set, lights and heaters, cooking stoves, and even automobiles. It can also be used for electric chairs to execute, for weapons of war, and destruction. So, in itself, electricity is neither good nor evil, and that's exactly how it is with Magick: It is a powerful force which can be used for good or evil depending upon the Magician.
Magick is energy which can be created by anyone. It is not only certain, special people who can work Magick; we all have the ability to produce this power to change things. Certainly some people seem more able than others to do this, but through practice we all can become expert.
A combination of need and will power is all that is necessary to do Magick. If you ask someone else to work Magick for you-even an accomplished Magician-it is unlikely that he or she will be able to produce the results that you could. The reason is that the Magician does not have the personal connection you have-the need for the Magick to succeed. For example, you are out of work and almost out of money. You need some income to put food on the table and keep the roof over your head. You are desperate! You go to a friend of a friend who has some sort of a reputation as a dabbler in the occult. Surely she can help. She listens to your story and promises to work for you, but no luck. Why?
No matter how much she empathizes, this Magician does not have the driving need you have for the Magick to succeed. If it doesn't work, you are the one who is homeless and starving; she can simply shrug her shoulders with regret. So, even though you are not the expert, you are the one to do the Magick. You are the one who will put every last ounce of energy into it because your very life is at stake. You will produce more Magick than she through your need and your will power-the will for it to succeed.

Therefore, Magick should be done by the one whom it will affect-the one we call "the Petitioner."