Practical spellcraft for external results

[Eastling]

So I’ve been practicing magic of some kind for a few years now, and I’ve gotten a lot of experience with spells for self-improvement. Unfortunately, I’m somewhat at a loss when it comes to doing magic that has external effects on the world around me. I’ve done it in the past, but it tends to be rather scattershot in its effects, and I have trouble determining what makes it work or not.

At the moment I’m planning a spell to improve conditions at my work (since I’m far too low on the corporate ladder to have any non-magical influence). So I’d really like this one to be as effective as possible. Before I start, I want to know: what, in your experience, is important to keep in mind with this kind of practical magic? What works and what doesn’t? Where is a good place to start?

[Emma Eldritch]

At the moment I’m planning a spell to improve conditions at my work (since I’m far too low on the corporate ladder to have any non-magical influence). So I’d really like this one to be as effective as possible. Before I start, I want to know: what, in your experience, is important to keep in mind with this kind of practical magic? What works and what doesn’t? Where is a good place to start?

Strategy. Obviously this varies from case to case - if I'm trying to get my neighbours to move out, I don't really put a ton of thought into the spell besides "leave, fucker!" but when it comes to something like improving your work conditions? I'd sit down at make a list of what exactly would improve said conditions and enchant for those. Like would getting Kathy-who-never-shuts-up moved to a different part of the office help? Easy, it goes back to "move, fucker!" Better pay? You get to sit down again again and see if maybe there's specific ways to hurry that along.

I find you generally want to be specific enough that your magic knows where to go, while still giving it wiggle room. Bit of a fine line, I guess.

I'm a fan of Jason Miller and find a lot of his advice on getting results in magic to be generally pretty spot on.



(Last edited by Morag to fix broken URL.)

[Eastling]

Strategy. Obviously this varies from case to case - if I'm trying to get my neighbours to move out, I don't really put a ton of thought into the spell besides "leave, fucker!" but when it comes to something like improving your work conditions? I'd sit down at make a list of what exactly would improve said conditions and enchant for those. Like would getting Kathy-who-never-shuts-up moved to a different part of the office help? Easy, it goes back to "move, fucker!" Better pay? You get to sit down again again and see if maybe there's specific ways to hurry that along.

I find you generally want to be specific enough that your magic knows where to go, while still giving it wiggle room. Bit of a fine line, I guess.

I'm a fan of Jason Miller and find a lot of his advice on getting results in magic to be generally pretty spot on.

I've also become fond of Jason Miller's writings lately; they seem very sensible and a good way of thinking about things. I just always seem to struggle to figure out exactly what I should do for a spell, since my practice is so eclectic and personal. I suppose strategy also applies there--I should look at what has worked in the past and draw on those techniques.