Time Until Results

[Huginn]

I'm sure this is an oft-asked question, but I thought I'd bring it up.

What is a good rule of thumb to time the results of a spell or working? For me, it seems to be all over the map. I had a candle healing literally start to work over night, a runescript talisman take a week or two, and then other spells take a month or more.

Is there a point where you just assume the ritual failed? Is there a way of predicting how long the "wait" for results will take? I know not to be impatient, but I'd just like to get a general idea of what to watch for.


Thanks!

[Tana]

I found a good rule of thumb to be this:

In 3 days a sign.
In 3 weeks a movement.
in 3 months a result.

[Olie]

I'm sure this is an oft-asked question, but I thought I'd bring it up.

What is a good rule of thumb to time the results of a spell or working? For me, it seems to be all over the map. I had a candle healing literally start to work over night, a runescript talisman take a week or two, and then other spells take a month or more.

Is there a point where you just assume the ritual failed? Is there a way of predicting how long the "wait" for results will take? I know not to be impatient, but I'd just like to get a general idea of what to watch for.


Thanks!

yeah i wonder about this lots too. i usually give up if its more then a month. but a lot of my spells usually work really fast. like sometimes right away :/ so i might just be impatient. but i feel like this is one of those questions that can have a whole rainbow of answers tho
try comparin it to your spells that did work. and if it takes longer than they did then maybe throw in the towel

[Aspiria]

yeah i wonder about this lots too. i usually give up if its more then a month. but a lot of my spells usually work really fast. like sometimes right away :/ so i might just be impatient. but i feel like this is one of those questions that can have a whole rainbow of answers tho
try comparin it to your spells that did work. and if it takes longer than they did then maybe throw in the towel

I've only cast a "long term" spell so I don't really know if it's working or not lol.

Hey Olie! Missed ya. I have a question for you. What kind of spells do you do? What I mean is does your spell casting only involve your circles or do you do ritual type spells or what? I would like to try some spells but I don't like the ritual ones. Too much structure I think and reminds me of my Christian days.

[Jenett]

]
Is there a point where you just assume the ritual failed? Is there a way of predicting how long the "wait" for results will take? I know not to be impatient, but I'd just like to get a general idea of what to watch for.

 
Depends on the spell, depends on the context.

When I was doing job-finding magic, I knew it was going to be a long time. In my field, even if I did the magical work, and a job got posted the very next day, I knew I was looking at probably a 8-12 week lead time before they got to phone interviews (and another month, maybe, before they made a decision.) That's just the way it often works in libraries.

(There are times things move really fast - for-profit schools go from posting an ad to interviews in a week or two. But mostly it's that slow or slower: I've had call backs from ads 6 months after I applied.)

Most of my magical workings were focused on desired outcome - the right job for me - not "any job now". And that's going to take time to manifest, even allowing for the fact that there might be a bunch of possible 'right jobs for me' out there - the field just doesn't post *that* many ads in places I was okay living every week. (Even for fairly broad 'willing to live' requirements)

(I did also do some self-improvement magic of the "Let me be my best self" kind, before interviews, but that's hard to have a measureable result from.)

Likewise, my other longterm magical thing that came to pass this winter? (For finding friends and social community of a particular kind?) I started that magical work before I moved out of Minnesota, and it actually manifested seriously 18 months later. Again, the specific thing I was looking for is not going to happen overnight: it needed a combo of me being ready for it and other people being ready for it to happen.

And I was totally fine with that: I knew both things were long-term things, but I wanted them to be right, not fast. (I'll also note that while both things are things I fed into the magical working with periodically, neither of them were "do this magical thing every day/week" - it was a combo of ongoing practical steps (applying, sending out resumes on the job front, doing stuff at least once a month that would make it more likely to meet people outside my existing circles on the other) plus some stuff to help me focus energy in that direction (I use structured music playlists for that, plus some momentary attention.)

That said, I also have done much more short term magic to deal with immediate needs. In those cases, I generally built a results clause into the work ("X thing will be resolved within [timeframe]" - usually a week or the next moon cycle. And mostly that worked, and if it didn't, I could usually figure out why, and whether more magic was the solution again or not.

Most of the time, these days, my magical work tends to be "next 2 months or longer" - partly because I just don't have that many sudden urgent needs, and because sudden urgent fixes usually take tons of time and focus to deal with, and they're disruptive to other parts of my life. (Which isn't to say I won't do them if I need to, but I'd rather try and live my life so I don't need to in the first place.)

[Huginn]

Depends on the spell, depends on the context.

 
That makes a lot of sense. I can see how different objectives would have to be rated differently. Thanks to you and everyone else for the comments!

I've only cast a "long term" spell so I don't really know if it's working or not lol.

Hey Olie! Missed ya. I have a question for you. What kind of spells do you do? What I mean is does your spell casting only involve your circles or do you do ritual type spells or what? I would like to try some spells but I don't like the ritual ones. Too much structure I think and reminds me of my Christian days.

 
I apologize, but I wasn't sure to which of us those questions were aimed, lol. If Olie, I naturally cannot speak for them. If myself, I do all sorts. I've worked with candles, runes (mostly talismans), elemental work, crystals, created thoughtforms and dream spells ala Konstantinos, I even use sigils for some things. I'm very eclectic in my practice.

Again, thanks to everyone who has replied!

[RandallS]

What is a good rule of thumb to time the results of a spell or working? For me, it seems to be all over the map. I had a candle healing literally start to work over night, a runescript talisman take a week or two, and then other spells take a month or more.

I've always found that the more complex the desired result, the more time it is likely to take. For example, I'd expect a spell to find one's true love to take a fairly long time (perhaps even many months) but I'd expect a spell to "get a date" to work fairly quickly.

[Olie]

I've only cast a "long term" spell so I don't really know if it's working or not lol.

Hey Olie! Missed ya. I have a question for you. What kind of spells do you do? What I mean is does your spell casting only involve your circles or do you do ritual type spells or what? I would like to try some spells but I don't like the ritual ones. Too much structure I think and reminds me of my Christian days.

WELL HI! i missed ya too! i feel so special now C:
umm but i do lotsa kinds of spells! sometimes i do ritual stuff but i really like spells where you make things. like rope magic, talismans or circles/rune magic. but they are kinda structured. you might not like them that much. you ever try low magic?? i think you'd like that! im not really an expert... but i could help you come up with somethin if you'd want!

I've always found that the more complex the desired result, the more time it is likely to take. For example, I'd expect a spell to find one's true love to take a fairly long time (perhaps even many months) but I'd expect a spell to "get a date" to work fairly quickly.

ALSO i agree with this a lot! simple things happen faster. but also how much energy and focus and blah blah would probably also make a difference. but thats gettin all technical

[Aspiria]

WELL HI! i missed ya too! i feel so special now C:
umm but i do lotsa kinds of spells! sometimes i do ritual stuff but i really like spells where you make things. like rope magic, talismans or circles/rune magic. but they are kinda structured. you might not like them that much. you ever try low magic?? i think you'd like that! im not really an expert... but i could help you come up with somethin if you'd want!

I'd love it Olie thank you!

[Aspiria]

That makes a lot of sense. I can see how different objectives would have to be rated differently. Thanks to you and everyone else for the comments!


 
I apologize, but I wasn't sure to which of us those questions were aimed, lol. If Olie, I naturally cannot speak for them. If myself, I do all sorts. I've worked with candles, runes (mostly talismans), elemental work, crystals, created thoughtforms and dream spells ala Konstantinos, I even use sigils for some things. I'm very eclectic in my practice.

Again, thanks to everyone who has replied!

What do you mean by created thoughtforms?

[Huginn]

What do you mean by created thoughtforms?

 
It's a technique from Nocturnal Witchcraft by Konstantinos. Basically you use a black scrying glass, like a black mirror or obsidian. You create a thoughtform via visualization inside the scrying glass, then launch it.

I've tried it a couple of times using a small obsidian orb. I've seen it work, but it took a little while.

[Riothamus12]

I'm sure this is an oft-asked question, but I thought I'd bring it up.

What is a good rule of thumb to time the results of a spell or working? For me, it seems to be all over the map. I had a candle healing literally start to work over night, a runescript talisman take a week or two, and then other spells take a month or more.

Is there a point where you just assume the ritual failed? Is there a way of predicting how long the "wait" for results will take? I know not to be impatient, but I'd just like to get a general idea of what to watch for.


Thanks!

 
In most cases with me, it's the first 24-48 hours, though it can last longer depending on the magnitude of what I am trying to accomplish and proximity to the focus.