Intent Isn't Enough

"It's all about your intent."

"I work through my intent."

"I don't light candles, I just focus my intent."

All of these statements are false. In fact, such statements are so false and misleading that they probably stem from someone who has to come to social media to brag and puff up their ego. Beginners come to the internet and social media trying to learn how to help themselves with magic and conjure, and the first thing they find are people intentionally and unintentionally misleading them. 

Intent Does Little To Nothing

The average person probably has hundreds of intentions in the day: "I should go to the gym." "I should mow the lawn." "I should go on a diet." "I should call my parents." Etc.

Most "intentions" that go through the mind will never be more than thoughts, thoughts that most likely have the vaguest of desire behind them. Once the thought pass through the head it falls by the wayside to focus on the current distraction. The "intent" to go to the gym? Forgotten as soon as the couch was spotted. The "intent" to mow the lawn? Forgotten when the television was turned on. And so on...

The mind is constantly attempting to escape from doing things that require effort and will seek out the path of the easiest reward. Without discipline, it becomes very easy to let goals and desires to fall to the wayside. Occasionally, a desire may happen to come to the person by chance, and for many that believe themselves magical, they will develop a process of "magical thinking" giving their brains the easy reward while doing nothing. They will then turn to social media and brag getting more rewards for their magical thinking, all the while they have really done nothing. 

Self-Enchantment

You can enchant yourself with too much magical thinking. Constantly convincing yourself that your very thoughts are enough to make dramatic change in the universe is dangerous. This thinking leads to grandiose behavior that can get you into a lot of trouble. Being a magician is a careful balance between skepticism and faith, when you have no foundation to measure your actions you can easily lose touch with reality. At least if you work a candle spell and you don't get results you can analyze what you have done and find the problem. 

Part of the Magic is in the Preparations

When you go shopping and foraging for ingredients you are sending signals to your spirits. You are taking action to try and make a change. When you speak to your ingredients you are impressing the energy of your desires into them. When you light your candles you are giving energy to the spirits to take action on your behalf. It's the difference between thinking about going to the gym and actually getting changed and getting in your car. You may not see results right away, but you are one step closer to getting there. 

The Breath And Words Have Power

The act of speaking your desires to ingredients and spirits is extremely powerful. In your lungs is the Breath of Life, when you speak you are giving life to your desires and hopes. When you speak to spirits you are giving commands for them to move into the action you desire. Without the breath to animate your desires they are nothing more than whimsical fantasies in your mind. 

Magic is a Discipline 

An artist spends hours experimenting and refining their technique to advance their skills and a musician does the same thing. Magic is no different. Practice is required to perfect your skills and advance yourself to greater levels of influence. In order to advance yourself you must first get out of your own head and start chasing after your desires. Just twenty minutes of practice with prayer and meditation will change your game within six months, and that sounds much better than simply imagining yourself as a powerful wizard.