Reversal: When magic goes wrong...

It happens to the best and the worst of us. It can have any number of common or complex causes. We are humans, and we all fail at some point or another. This is no less true in divine endeavors as it in in the mundane world. Sometimes we must fail, to learn how to be better. You might be the most powerful witch, wizard, or sorcerer on the globe. Yet inevitably the Universe will at some point disagree with that intent, and it is then that magic goes wrong.

It something you rarely hear about, and I've always wondered why. You might find a thousand spells for any purpose under the sun, yet no one wants to talk about what to do when things do not go as planned. The most we ever get is tired advice such as "don't do love spells" or never manipulate another's "will." This is true in my experience in most all pagan traditions that practice some form of witchcraft or sorcery. Spells, charms, incantations, whatever you want to call them. At some point, it happens to everyone, and in most cases we are simply left wondering...what now?

So I decided to create my own list of suggestions and thoughts about how to avoid spellwork fuckery, and what to do to reduce the impact of a spell gone (sometimes horribly) wrong, because I have been there more than once.

FORESIGHT: Avoiding trouble...

• KNOW YOUR INTENT   In my opinion, the purpose of any work that manipulates natural energy should be planned according to its focus. Some work requires more planning, and others should flow naturally from the spirit. For example, the act of giving an offering to the gods or blessings to a person or other spirit form should flow naturally from our hearts. If we have the urge to leave an offering, or bless someone, we need not question that or plan an elaborate ritual. However, if the intent of spellwork is to bring a specific action or effect into manifestation according to our will, these things should be given more attention to avoid problems. In my experience, the more specific a spell's intended goal, the more one should devote time and effort into it's planning. 
• KNOW YOURSELF This ties in with intention. Before performing a spell, it is helpful to examine our own motivation in performing it. What is the desired effect, and more importantly...WHY IS IT desirable to us? Is the spellwork truly focused on creating a benefit in the world, or are our motivations selfish? And if the spell succeeded, what would be the real impact of it? Is it truly something we want? Is it motivated by a real need, or motivated by more negative aspects of our desires, those created by fears of loss, jealousy, fear, and self doubt? In my experience, spellwork which is done out of desire created by such emotions is more often than not doomed to fail. The practitioner is the container for energy which fuels the spellwork. If that container is cracked, that energy leak most often cripples even the best intentions. 
• TIMING IS EVERYTHING Be it moon phases, times of day or days of the week, particular holidays  relevant to your tradition, etc. there is always a system for determining the best time to do a certain thing. Whatever your tradition, timing of spellwork is an important element of creating a productive spell. Also, make sure you take yourself into consideration in regards to timing. Are you feeling drained, depressed, sick, or just not right? Then don't perform a spell at this time. Emotions effect the energy within us. When spellwork is performed, the energy we possess is used. Negative energy can equal negative effects. Make sure you are feeling fit and in a balanced state of mind to avoid corruption of intent by your personal energy. 
• DEVELOP INTUITION Feel it out. If it feels right, go forward. If it feels wrong even in the slightest, best to take a step back and reconsider. 
• CONNECT TO THE DIVINE Obviously, there is no better protection than having friends in high places. When I perform spell work, I always invoke some personal gods or wights that I have a close relationship with. Also on many occasions I ask for the assistance of my personal fylgia and disir to help me. In more serious workings, I like to ask for permission in a sense, asking that the work be successful if the Gods or the Universe sees fit. Not a fail safe, because sometimes the divine lets us fail in order to promote our learning, but in my opinion having a relationship with the spirit world is sort of like a buffer. They may let us fail, but in most cases will save us from utter disaster.

Hindsight- Minimizing Damage

If your spell work included material components, such as a charm bag, parchment, carved wood in Rune magic, etc., you may be able to minimize or destroy entirely the energy of the spell. The best ways of doing this in my experience are either burning or burial. I personally prefer burial, as I consider myself particularly attuned to the earth, and wary of fire. Every time I incorporate fire into my rituals and spell work, it always backfires on me. This is just my personal preference of course. If you are more comfortable burning the material and have worked well with fire in the past, then go with that. Burial for me is better because I can call on the powers that respond best to myself and it to me. Burial can also be symbolic of death obviously, which can add to the process of cleansing and rendering energy neutral. 

Purge and Purify the self using techniques such as meditation, trance, grounding, shielding, smudging, etc. If you feel the spell has gone negatively, I prefer to purge that energy before a process of purification and shielding. There are many ways to purge energy from the self, so I will just give a few examples. One could use dance to purge energy, an extended period of grounding on the bare earth in a natural setting, even an act such as ringing bells or sweeping the aura with a small broom or besom can all be effective means of purge energy. What is important is that you allow yourself to become empty of all but your normal, healthy energy field. After this one can purify the self with a salt bath or smudging, and then most importantly, create a shield to protect you in case the energy returns. Often times it is hard to measure the length of time a completed working will be active. Periodic shielding and cleansing may be necessary for a time depending on the strength of the spell which has gone badly.

Experience and Grow. Like any life experiences, sometimes we are given bad experiences as a means of pushing us forward into transformation and growth. It is our difficulties who make us who we are. If a spell goes wrong, meditating on the possible reasons this happened, and what we might learn from them can help ease our difficulties. If you are finding the ramifications particularly hard to deal with, perhaps simply communing with your personal guidance figures, be they gods, wights, spirit guides, whatever you may personal believe in, they are all there to help you learn and move forward. Take a step back from spell work and instead focus on communion and learning for awhile. 

Banishing as a last resort. Like anything else, a spell's effect can be banished or broken. For me banishings are inherently risky, so I try to avoid them on the whole. In the most dire of cases, this may be necessary. I leave you to decide your own personal stance on banishing, and create them according to your own traditions if you so choose. In my experience, banishing for a spell gone wrong is usually not necessary. However I tend to stay on the lighter path, others may be working with forces of a much more persistent nature which might require more powerful methods of reversing a negative spell. 

Hope these tips help you, whatever your path...

In Frith

Cena