#leafgate

I don’t want to drive people away from getting started with magick, quite the opposite - if you’re led to believe there’s no skill inherent with magick, you’ll feel like shit when nothing you do seems to work. People tell you that all you need to do is get the right ingredients and it’ll work - but nothing happens! Are you just hopeless? Not at all! You’re just new!

Magick is a skill that needs to be cultivated over time, and it’s perfectly normal to get lackluster results when you’re just starting out. A path is made by walking, and you need to wear down the ground somehow! Even when you fail, no attempt is in vain - even the act of attempting the magick wears down the subconscious barriers in your mind and will make the next try a little easier. You're always accomplishing something with every attempt and building up your experience until you can finally see and hear spirits, predict the future, win the lottery, all the things that are promised to you when you’re starting out.

Despite what people may tell you, you can be objectively “better” at magick than someone else, but that status doesn't come with technique or lineage or esoteric study, it comes with practice and experience. You shouldn’t expect life-changing miracles from your first few attempts - don’t blame yourself for not being immediately fantastic at something you just started! Magick is like any other skill - the only way you can get better is by practicing. 

— Christopher Hope (@christopherhope)

November 14, 2014