Why do some spells or candle rituals don't work?~~~

 Dear Ms. Q,

“I did a spell for a job but nothing happened, why?”  “I did a candle spell to get my ex-boyfriend back but he’s still with that other woman, why?”   “I did a spell to find the right man but instead I found a dog, why?”

That last one did specifically happened but it turned out to be a good thing.

O.K. everyone, people do spells for many reasons, but they come down to  4  basic subjects,  Love,  Prosperity, Protection, Revenge and within those basic subjects are a lot of sub headings, for example in Prosperity we have Job, Money, gambling just to name a few.

But people do a spell or candle ritual and then say “it didn’t work” or “It didn’t come out the way I wanted it to”   followed by “Why?  What did I do wrong?”

Let me illustrate one example and this is because I had warned the person they need to be specific, this older woman wanted to do a candle spell to find the right companion for her, someone to love her and only her, to be faithful and kind and protective.    I told her she should be more specific because the Universe will send to you what It feels you need, or not need.

 Well she did the spell her way, wrote out her petition her way and what happened is this funny looking, lovable stray dog came into her life.    Several years ago was when she did the spell and nothing happened and she rightfully came to me and complained and I said “Give it time”.

A week later she was in an area that suffered a devastating forest fire, and burned out a number of homes, she was helping out a friend of hers,  driving her friend who had a home in that area back to it after being allowed to enter, driving along the twisty road they came across a dog that was exhausted, singed, limping and was about to collapse,  she stopped her car and swept the dog up into her car, gave it some water and as it fell asleep in the back seat they drove to her friend’s home which by a miracle was spared from the flames.   

But now she had this stray dog, she took responsibility for it, had it checked out by a vet, posted found signs, but no one claimed the dog, the dog stayed by her side devotedly and she named it Smokey.     And the dog has been faithful, kind, protective and very, very loving.    She told me “I asked for a man, I got a dog, what did I do wrong with my spell”  I read her petition and she used the word ‘companion’  not man, so the Universe sent her exactly what she needed, a companion that met those qualifications.

But all was not lost, Smoky has introduced her to several gentlemen friends and she has been having a wonderful time of it, but as she told me “Smoky is my barometer, if he doesn’t like a person then there is something wrong and if my gentlemen friends don’t like my dog or can’t figure out a way to include my dog on a date (with a few exceptions) then they are not in my life”----as I said the Universe sent to her exactly what she needed.

So many people wonder why doesn’t a spell work?  You have to remember that when doing candle magick/spells/rituals it creates an opening for the Devine Presence be it God/Goddess/ Orisha/ Jesus/or Mother Mary in to let them make the decision for you.  Of course it does help to set a time limit on the magick.  Give it a certain amount of time to see any results if nothing happens, then do it again and again wait.   Sometimes doing a spell one time does not necessarily make it happen, it takes time to build up the energies to see it through.

My mother and grandmother were very big on doing 54 day Novena’s  27 days to petition the saint or Jesus or Mother Mary and 27 days to thank them, even if nothing appears to have happened but as my Grandmother was fond of saying “Give it time,  just as you have to give bread dough time to rise”. 

 

But most importantly remember that sometimes you might not get your wish, and it’s not because you failed in doing the magick, but because it was not in the cards or in your destiny for you.   It’s like asking to be wealthy but maybe in this lifetime you are not meant to be super rich, but just comfortable or that you do need to struggle to learn a Karmic lesson.

That is why giving the spell time to work helps you understand what maybe happening.   Also another thing as my Granny was fond of saying “God helps those who help themselves”  so you can do a spell to get a job, BUT you are the one to update your resume, look for job openings on all those various web sites, submit those applications, prepare yourself for the interview, the spell helps you focus that energy to “Get ‘er dun!”

In doing spells or candle magick we also need to know why spells fail.  Granny told me that there are four reasons a spell, any kind of spell, fails.

1.        You did it wrong:   This is very common for beginners  and it falls into one of several reasons,  You didn’t use the right ingredients, didn't pray with enough conviction,  you couldn’t work up enough energy,  or you approached it wrong to solve the problem, and most often it might not have been the right spell.

  

2.        You’re undoing your own magic:   This is the most common reason why the spell hasn’t work.  The reasons behind this is you told others about the magic you are doing, or you doubted your own magickal power, or you obsessed over the outcome that you desired but by doing that you were diverting energy away from the spell and focusing it instead on your tension and stress, or you are subconsciously thinking you don't want the very thing you are doing spell work for (for that you may need to meditate on), or you may have subconscious thoughts that work against your desires.     

Another common thought in undoing your magic especially candle magick is your energy flow keeps getting interrupted, this because you could be sharing space with another family member or roommates that don’t understand or disprove what you’re doing so lack of privacy can undo your magickal workings, or you blow the candle out instead of snuffing it out, or you don’t complete the spell or ritual in its proper entirety. 

3.       You aren't meant to have it:    This is possible depending upon the “blue print” or karmic path your soul needs to follow.  So you are asking for something that is just not in your destiny to have in this life time.  Another reason is Karmic justice where you are using magic to get something that is not right in God or the Divine Presences eye, and possibly the Divine Presence is seeing that  you are working against your best interests, so the answer is “no”.

  

And the Least Common yet the first idea that people jump to:

4.        Someone is working against you:    A person thinks that someone is binding your spells or actions by magic, working to undo your spell work, casting hexes against you, crossing you, or tripping your magic up in some way,   People are more than willing to peg their failures on someone else, when they should be looking at their self or personal situation.

Now that is not to say that if you know the other person does do magic that they may be doing things against you but this is where one needs to see if the action against this person is needed or was it caused by rumors and falsehoods or were you not meant to have it happen.

To put it bluntly it won’t matter how much magic you do if your own thoughts are "I'm not worthy, I don't deserve this, I'm not good enough" if you think that then you will never have lasting results. This is the most common situation in everything from love spells, or reconciliation spells,  or job spells. If you don't think you're worth having that in your life, your soul or subconscious self  will do everything in its power to see that you don't get it and that includes unraveling your own magic.  What some people don’t realize is that subconsciously they sabotage themselves.

I had recently several ladies who are trying to get their boyfriends back, for some reason or another they (the boyfriend) have gone off with someone else, and these ladies have tried spell work to bring them back,  this is where divination can be important.   If a spell doesn’t work, doing divination can give an idea what to do next, in one case the person is unable to properly do the spell, which is one reason why it’s not working, but in both cases there is a secondary reason, and that is both these ladies need to get their own personal lives together and focus on themselves and less on getting their boyfriend back.

That is what the Devine Presence is saying to them, they need to be strong independent women, capable of taking care of themselves and seeing their wandering men for what they really are.   It’s a hard realization to swallow but very true.    Now it is possible that when they get their lives back together they can decide if they want to do the spell work to get their boyfriends back, but if so it would be for a totally different reason and not the one they originally envisioned.

The most frequent spell that is cast is the LOVE SPELL and that is the one that can bring about the greatest disappointment and/or harm.   Once put into motion, a Love Spells energy is directed to the focus of your desires BUT WITHIN REASON.   For example I really like Jensen Ankles who plays Dean Winchester on the T.V. Program “Supernatural” (Hey! I maybe old but the pilot light is not dead)  but I know it will be futile if not darn silly to cast a love spell on him.   But some years ago when I thought I was going to be growing old and alone I did do a spell for someone to come into my life, and I was specific in what qualities I wanted and also said a male companion, but I left it open as to who it was going to be---well it worked for me, I had a dream I wrote the symbols and signs down in my Dream Journal, and in 3 weeks my future husband walked into my life.

But here’s the flip side, if a Love Spell is cast to return a Lover that will ultimately bring a person great harm or make their life worse, the Love Spell Will fail.  This is a top reason why Spells Fail or why Spells do not work as desired.   Because the Devine Presence has something more important in mind and that is what is needed to bring in harmony and balance into your life.

But some people are stubborn they want that person, that event, that justice in their life and what they will do is FORCE that spell to work.    The sad fact is Spells CAN be forced to manifest but you really do not want that.  IF a person is selfish enough to do this, that person who casts the spell will suffer immensely.  There is a Law of checks and balances the Universe has in place and it is there for a reason. But the sad fact is many spells CAN be literally FORCED to manifest.

I mentioned this in another post.  Many years ago a girl friend of mine was deeply infatuated with a guy that was bad news, and she was going to do a love spell to bring him to her, I knew she could do it and I did everything I could to persuade her to not go through with the spell, but she did it anyway, oh yeah he fell in love with her---and controlled her and beat her, and called her horrible names, and made it difficult for her to see her family and friends, she finally got word to me and on a pretext I was able to get her out of the house and to my Grandmother’s place, we pleaded with Granny for help and she did, we had to hide my friend for several weeks but then he left and turned his attentions to someone else and my friend was free.    This is a perfect reason why spells fail to work and why spells do not produce results or not the way one wants them to because they were forced into manifestation.

Sometimes a spell fails because you need growth ANY type of growth, in which some sort sacrifice MUST be made or endured.    To get a degree you have to endure long hours of study and homework.   To lose weight and get in physical shape we must endure giving up our favorite foods and train our bodies using exercises that are exhausting and painful. The bottom line is ALL growth, physical, mental AND spiritual is the result of effort, endurance and pain. You may not realize it but your pain and sacrifice is making you GROW. Ask yourself, "How did this change me for the better?" You’d be surprised by seeing the results 6 months from now, a year from now, 5 years from now.

The bottom line is YOUR happiness and your life's harmony. Of course, this may seem wrong or even unfair at this point in time but you would be surprised how a spell’s failure has made you MUCH STRONGER and WISER.

So what do you do if you want it to work~~~~

If you want it to work, requires several things  

1.       Ensure that all the materials needed for  casting a spell any kind of spell are in place. Get all the things that you’ll need (candles, herbs, incense, crystals, perfumes, etc.) and work within the correct lunar cycles. Concentrat your time and mental energy to the spell and you won’t get disappointed.

2.       Make sure that you are doing the right spell for the right situation and make sure you have all the right ingredients and that you do it properly right up to the disposal of spell workings.

3.       Make sure you are in the right lunar cycle.

4.       Be in the right frame of mind to do it, you are worthy of it, you have the privacy to do it, and that you can do it safely (especially with candle magick)

5.       Remember if it isn't in your destiny to have something you won't ever get it. If it isn't just in the eyes of God, it won't ever manifest. Learn to pray, meditate or get guidance from your spirits/ancestors to learn how to be divinely guided to make the best actions in life and walk in harmony with your destiny. If this is the reason why your spell work isn't happening, then it's time to start getting over it.   (This was recommend by Dr. E.)

6.       If you suspect someone is working against you get a reading on that because a reading will clearly indicate where it is coming from and how to handle the situation.  

Dr. E has said that “Sometimes you only need to do a series of Uncrossing Baths, sometimes it’s a Reversal Spell, other times it’s just a Protection spell. On rare occasions you need to get really serious and cut through binding spells that were put on someone, and then bind the person working against you in retaliation. Other times you need to curse that person to the grave! It really just depends on the power of the work they are doing and the approach they are taking. Usually it involves

1) Cleansing/Uncrossing, 2) Protection, 3) Reflecting or Retaliation work, 4) Binding or Cursing in that order. Don't jump right into cursing because it might not be just in the eyes of God in which case you'll be in a world of hurt.”

Set a Deadline for the spell to work-----

Setting a deadline is a good idea for any goal as well as for your own peace of mind and to remain in love with your own self.  Don’t torture yourself for what you can’t get be it a job, a man or a particular place to live there are plenty of jobs, men, places etc. in this world and you’d be surprised at finding a better option after you've moved on from your original goal.

So how long a Deadline, it depends usually anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. In many traditions, the general rule of thumb is that if you haven't seen something begin to manifest within four weeks or one lunar cycle (ie New Moon to New Moon or Full Moon to Full Moon) -- then you may need to revisit your working.

In other traditions, especially in Folk Magick, a spell is designed to be worked over a specific period of time (a seven-day candle spell, for instance), results should appear within a designated amount of time after the working is completed.   If not then again revisit what you’re working with.   I’ve found that after 3 times it’s not working then there is a reason for it so a review is important or the fact that the Universe is saying you’re not meant to have it for some reason.

But you need to keep in mind that sometimes you get results that aren't what you were expecting, (remember my friend getting a dog instead of a boyfriend)  in that case, evaluating the method you used to do the spell in the first place will be important. That doesn't necessarily mean the spell didn't work, it means that your wording was either too vague, or too specific.   Remember Hermione in the Harry Potter movies where she gathered hair for a disguise spell and hers turned her into a cat, which is where being careful is important.

It’s a  good idea is to keep a magical journal it can be in a cheap binder, to record the spell, what you used, the time and day and position of the moon etc.  record what you did, when you did it, what the circumstances were, etc. Jot down everything that happens, so that you can look back later and see if it has begun to manifest and how long it took to manifest, or if it has manifested differently or not at all,

Master Samuel Taylor said “Clients ask us often why Spells fail for certain reasons and the truth is there is a PURPOSE for why some spells fail.  The Laws of the Universe are there and in place for our protection.  Not all Spell Castings are meant to manifest.  It is always best to not force any casting.  The Universe knows what it is doing!"

And one other thing, Do Not be Afraid to move on if what you want does not manifest, there are better and brighter things out there for you, your options are wide open and many.

Blessings,

Ms. Q