From a very young age, my casting and manifesting skills were all too evident. Of course, at that age one had to question intent. Until one fine day at the tender age of seven, I was asked to perform a sacrifice to prove that I was devoted to this entity, one that I had felt around me since my coming into being. On discovering this macabre occurrence it had my parents scrambling to get me seen by various “doctors”. Well, as I found out in years to come, the intent is indeed a very very powerful tool to harness.
As time went by, various mentors came into my life, they all recognized in me the potential of harnessing magickal qualities, the only problem was, I used to cast with devastating intent, allowing the desire to consume me thus creating maximum damage to the target at hand but also, in turn, causing collateral damage to those in close proximity to the target. Not a desired result by any means imaginary!
Practise makes perfect, never a truer word uttered, as in time I was coached into controlling the energy within, grounding it if you may, and creating the desired result, be it malevolent or benevolent, identifying only the target intended. As I progressed I was able to determine the outcome and the time frame of a particular spell cast versus the target intended. Nowadays I cast with pure venom, I either cure you if so is my intent or have you writhing in pain if that is indeed my desire. The world had made sure in time to erode any compassion inside of me for those that would do me wrong.
Casting with intent is using your own power and will to craft and work a spell. All spell work comes from intent, it comes from a place of desire for a specific outcome, your will. No spell will work without the desire for its effect and knowledge that it will work.
That is how magick works in general. Magick is all about energy, and when you focus and hone that energy, you are able to generate some extraordinary change, commonly referred to as the spell... Magick does not need any tools, altars, wands, and so on and so forth. Tools, while very common, are simply an extension of the witch and are not needed for they don’t actually do anything for the spell itself.
We use tools because casting with just your will and intent is extremely difficult. It takes a long while to learn and a lot of practice to master. Tools exist to help bridge this gap and make casting a spell quicker and more guaranteed of an outcome.
When someone is casting a spell, they are effectively changing their own energy and pushing this energy out into the world. While this sounds easy, it can be very difficult to do as doubt, random thoughts, nervousness, etc… all tend to creep into the mind, for we are only human. These thoughts change the nature of the energy we are manipulating and can lead to spells either malfunctioning or not producing the desired result. The reason we use tools is to help prepare our minds by focusing on actions and associations to keep our attention on the working.
Simple, right? but it is extremely difficult. The only thing you need to do is visualize your objective, will it into being, and push the energy out of you. Not that difficult, I hear you say? Well while it is a bit more complicated than just that, the complications will come from your own psyche. You need to do this without allowing random thoughts, without doubt, and with a visualization that is perfectly matched.
The body is an amazing thing filled with nerves, and nerves create memory. One of the most powerful forms of memory is muscle memory. In order to cast quick spells, you are effectively programming your body to go through the steps, at a much faster rate, by simply performing a small action. By programing your body with the action, anytime you perform the action, your brain will recognize what you are doing and adjust the energy accordingly to match the sequence. Similar to when someone throws something at you, you automatically reach out to catch it. These simple actions become reflexive and, when programmed with your mind, are powerful tools for quick spell casting.
In my case, I cross my hands in front of myself, then twist them around. When I do this, my brain recognizes the following sequence, 1. By crossing my hands, my brain knows that I am gathering my energy to myself, 2. When I twist them around, my brain knows to get ready to push this energy out into the world.
These sequences must be done regularly and repeatedly in order to become reflexive. And by this, I mean it can take months of work. That being said, once you have done it, you should be all set to go and it becomes a reflex, automatically casting the spell without needing to sit in a dark room and visualize it working.
This is what I mean when I say that an adept magickian can only be classed so when he or she is actually magickal in him or herself, you must become that magick, not forever remain in servitude to tools and other beings to accomplish your desired Will.
Em Hotep - Patrick Gaffiero