Most witches will tell you that spells work intermittently and they treasure and share the tales of those spells that were successful. A spell that works is proof that magick is real, that we can affect the outcome of events, not just at the mysterious level of subatomic particles, but at the level of daily life.
So what do you do when a spell does't work? With the old model, you just went out and bought another book, tried a different spell, used a different ingredient. And lots of people get discouraged and stop casting spells, convinced that magick isn't real and spells are just superstitious nonsense. Well mechanical magick isn't real, and machanistic spellcasting borders on superstition. It certainly keeps the power outside yourself, which is what superstitions are based on - powerlessness.
All your ingredients, including your timing, your energy, and your connection to deity, could be right as they could be and your spell still may not manifest. Why not?
Its the magick of destiny working.
We often refer to Witchcraft as the Craft ot the Wise. Wisdom is not just earned at school - it comes from living life, particularly living through life's trials and challenges. These tests are where the greatest wisdom comes from. And the failure of a dream to come true is one of life's greatest tests. Wisdom however, has a unique way of transforming the bitter into the bittersweet, and ultimately, into the sweetness of life. And so, when a spell does not manifest, you should not ask, 'What went wrong?' but, 'Why not?' In understanding 'why not', you become wise.
So when a spell doesn't work, use divination or meditation, and ask why not. I've never once had an Oracle say to me: ' Didn't I tell you not to use vervain? Next time use rue!' Oracles show us the real reason: the deep, unseen and spiritual currents moving through a magickal life. Remember, magick often works in unexpected ways, and its timing is also not on the same schedule as yours, so be patient. I've been working on and waiting for and acting in accord with a very special spell for over a year now.
Most of all, when events don't play out as our spell intended, remember that the Universe is a complex and living process. Chaos plays a far greater role in reality than we had thought when we viewed the world through the simple mechanics of Newton's Laws. But chaos theory has also shown us something else quite amazing: at the furthest fringes of randomness, a pattern emerges. It is the pattern of spirals - the shape of D.N.A, the building block of life.
You live within an organic reality, your life is one of the spirals of beauty emerging from the infinite chaos of the quantum reality. That pattern is your destiny. Some spells advance the pattern, some do not. Those that do often manifest quickly and powerfully. Those that don't simply fizzel, or manifest in unexpected ways that are most appropriate to the pattern of your destiny.
Your destiny is not a fixed or unchangable reality. Instead, it is a probability that requires your participation to come to fruition. A spell, some have suggested, helps change possibilities into probabilities. Wisdom, self-knowledge, love and action advance you destiny. So does being connected to your inner divinity, and to the sacred in the world. The failure of a spell may be filled with as much magick as its fulfilment. When you find the meaning behind a non-manifestation, you will find its gift, its magick, and its empowerment, for you and the spell the Universe has cast.
Love and Light