Basics Anon here. It does to a point. Like, I understand why experimentation and being innovative are really good things, but it doesn't really help when you don't know what you're working with? Like, a complete beginner can't (or, in certain areas of magic, probably shouldn't) experiment with what they don't know anything about, I guess? That just might be me, though, because I like to know the "traditional" ins and outs of things before I start messing with them. :S
I think there is nothing wrong with starting with stuff that is fairly well established. As I mention in the post, I think cookbook magics can be helpful for someone who is starting out, but I think itās a bad choice to stay there permanently. I also feel that your magix will never be at its fullest potential if you never move beyond cookbook magics.
Figuring out where to start is always the hardest. I read a lot of books and saw how others did it. Upon that failing, I decided to do my own methods, and Iāve had much more success that way.
However, all in all, I would wager that most of us arenāt going to be doing significant harm by experimenting with things. The world will likely not come to a halt if you decide to mix herbs Z and R with Y stone and put them in M container and shake it up to make something happen, etc.
I think, overall, I want to push people to get over the fear of failure. Thatās part of the fun of all of this- messing around until you find the perfect mixture. The question of where to start will vary for each person :3