OK, so a few of you have now cast your first spell.
For some, you might have gotten a small flicker, barely results. For others, results you’re happy with.
But as happens with last week's deep beginning witchcraft exercise, some of you probably overshot.
Yes, you were successful! You CAN work, magick!
Now you understand that there’s some refinement and discipline to it. Now you know there’s a point to all that background I keep giving you. I’m willing to guess most of the people who overshot are from the US. We’ll talk about decoupling from the concept of “more power” = “more effective” next. That jingo mindset does not work well for magick.
So, like Mickey in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, let’s buckle down and clean up the mess.
If you used one of the elemental spells we posted last week, the chart below is for you.
Elemental Counter Key | Earth | Air | Fire | Water | Spirit |
Earth | Ask nicely, appeal to the authorities of the earth plane | Dissipates | Carbonizes | Dilutes | Earth elemental |
Air | Evaporates | Ask nicely, appeal to the authorities of the airplane | Combusts | Bubbles | Air elemental |
Fire | Quells | Consumes | Ask nicely, appeal to the authorities of the fireplane | Steams | Fire elemental |
Water | Dissolves | Evaporates | Quenches | Ask nicely, appeal to the authorities of the water plane | Water elemental |
Spirit | Creates an intelligence of earth | Creates an intelligence of air | Creates an intelligence of fire | Creates an intelligence of water | Ask nicely, appeal to the authorities of the Spirit plane |
Elements in magick are, for the most part, a poetic way of speaking about physics. Earth /Air /Fire /Water is roughly but not exactly parallel to liquid, solid, gas, and catalyst.
Let’s look at the spell and how to undo or ground out that energy you have gotten going now that it’s doing a little more than you asked. Last week, I posted five baseline spells working with the elements and how to cast them using breathing, salt, water, or fire.
To counter and cancel your spell, you must engage a different element than the one you used. Think of working with the five Western elements as Rock, Paper, and Scissors, except that each one can cancel out the other, with the exception of Spirit.
Only Spirit can counter Spirit.
The result of each spell and counter spell is that you will see or sense a chemical reaction, ideally only in the astral or Spirit world.
For your reference, the table will help you think about what activity to create in your mental imagery. But I will also write some short energy work visioning to help you along the way.
To cancel out your spell, pick what you intuitively feel will best neutralize your set of goals for each of these. Neutralizing will not undo what’s been done but will stop anything from moving forward.
How to Break a Spell You Cast (with the Elements)
You don’t need to remove the original spell components unless you want to. You likely won’t have the option if you lit a candle or boiled some water; the entire point was that you infused those molecules with your intention and then set them in motion. Find a place and way that best allows you to concentrate - some people need quiet, some people need to blast heavy metal, and some folks can sit in a busy restaurant with conversation flowing around them and make it happen. You get the idea.
The chart should help - each elemental alignment is listed, so if, for example, you cast a candle or fire spell and you need it to stop, imagine water pouring into the spell. Conjure up all the sensations that pouring out a cup of water or allowing water to flow from a faucet brings up in you. Continue to imagine the water pouring until you feel a bit different. For some, that feeling will be dramatic; for others, it is subtle. Learning to discern what a shift is for you can take some practice and develop that all-important skill of discernment.
You know how to cast a spell, and you now know how to cancel it! Now we can dig into the other details because I know you’re already in the spell books as it is!
References
I don’t have references per se because the elements of work have come from my internalized knowledge and practice.
My influences include:
Recommended Books
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Ask questions, share what you’ve learned, have folks group fact-check and have a good time!
Diana's next class with Wicked Grounds happens on April 9, 2024 at 6 pm PDT: Inner Spring Cleaning with Energy Work. The class is online, and space is limited so reserve your spot in class now!
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