When is a spell completely cast?

[piper3330]

Hi again!
I am learning so much from all of you here in the Forum and through my reading in the courses and across the website.

After browsing through some of the spells in the library here, I’ve thought of a question. When is a spell completely cast? I have an example from a few spells that I have seen. The spell is cast, and this involves writing something on a piece of paper, then keeping that for a certain number of days, after which you burn and dispose of the ashes.

Is the spell cast the day that you perform the ritual, or only after the number of days have passed and ashes are disposed of? I’m wondering this because if you were to recast a spell 28 days after it’s initially cast, would you go from the initial day of the ritual, or once the paper is burned?

I hope that this makes sense as I am not sure I have worded it clearly!

[Amaris_Bane]

Honestly, I’ve never thought of this, so good question! I think of casting a spell the day/time I perform it. The only exception is for candle spells/rituals where I know I have to light the candle for X number of days in a row, then the last day would be the day the spell is completed.

For spells that repeat, such as the one you are mentioning, you can do it either way. Which way feels right to you? This is how I approach these situations. I do what my instinct is telling me. As you get into the craft more, your instinct will grow. Trust that gut feeling! It is always right (even when it is telling you to not eat that second piece of the pie because then you’ll be too full and feel sick. Not speaking from experience here, lol. ).

[Siofra_Strega]

Hi @piper3330, so the day you put it together & ritual & everything… that is the day that you cast. Normally you give the spell some time to do its thing so about a full moon cycle (28 - 30) days before re-casting the same spell or tweaking it or just letting it do its thing.

It’s up to you if you recast or not afterward & when, but you also don’t want to necessarily be casting the same spell every day, if that makes sense.

I’m sure there will be others with their thoughts, but that is my understanding & how I practice when it comes to casting & certain types of spells.

[TheTravelWitch_Bry]

Greetings @piper3330 ,

Great question! And I can see you’ve already got some awesome feedback from Amaris and Siofra

After thinking on it for a bit, I would say that, in terms of casting, there are Two Main Types of Spells:

1. Immediate - these are spells that are prepped, acted on, and ended within a short span of time. While the spell results may linger for a longer period of time (think: amulet charging, protective shield, etc) or the spell may take a while to bear fruit, it has either been put into action or passed on to the Universe, your deities, etc- the spellwork is out of your hands.

For immediate spells, the spell is cast as soon as you finish your spellwork- this may be the last line of the chant, the words “So Mote it Be”, the spell candle going out, or ending your meditation/visualization/etc.

2. Ongoing - these spells are cast over a longer period of time and require ongoing maintenance from the caster, who often needs to continue putting energy and/or ingredients into the spell. A money bowl, ancestor altar, or offering routine are examples of ongoing spellwork.

Ongoing spells are technically being cast all the time or at set intervals- they stop when the caster ceases feeding them. Some may stop working immediately while others may fade out after a while, but without new incoming energy, ongoing spells will dissipate and finish.

(There’s also some spells- like the 7-day money spell- that would fall in between these two types- this certainly isn’t a strict categorization )

@piper3330

When is a spell completely cast?

The different types of spells function differently, and on top of that every spell is unique- I suppose you’d need to closely examine the spell you want to re-cast to find when it was cast/ends before re-casting.

Additionally, just a friendly reminder that some spells, even though they are out of your hands, are still being working on by higher powers- just because you haven’t seen a result yet doesn’t mean it isn’t coming!

I cast a very specific spell several weeks ago, waited a few days, and thought it was a bust. But the exact answer I wanted came- just significantly later than I had expected it to. It was a reminder that the Universe isn’t bound by time like we humans are

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Wishing you all the best with your spellwork and casting, Piper- Blessed Be!

[piper3330]

Thank you so much! This is helpful insight - both spell-wise and talking about pie

[piper3330]

Thanks so much! Thinking about what you said, why might you want to re-cast a spell? Is this just to strengthen it, like you said to tweak it a bit, or if you don’t feel it’s been done properly/ don’t see any manifestation? So interesting and I love to keep everyone’s perspectives on this!

[piper3330]

This is super helpful! The spells I have looked at which prompted this question are like your 7-day money spell example @TheTravelWitch_Bry - in one of them, for example, the candle is lit and extinguished on the day the ritual is performed, but part of this is writing something on a piece of paper, which is kept for a number of days, then burned and the ashes disposed of. This definitely sounds like an in between situation and, like @Amaris_Bane said, one where it might be best to follow your instinct as to if and when you feel it should be re-cast after the 28 day moon cycle.

That being said, I am curious as to in what cases and why you would re-cast a spell?

[Amaris_Bane]

@piper3330

why you would re-cast a spell?

For me, some spells I like to re-cast like wards because the spell power has been “tripped” or “extinguished” for a lack of better words. Sometimes you can just feel in your gut that you need to re-cast the spell. I have home blessing/cleansing spells/rituals that I do every month. I also lock my mirrors every quarter. I will re-cast my weather protection spells right before a hurricane is headed towards Houston. So there are many situations where you will re-cast the same spell over and over. This also gives you the chance to tweak it and make it “perfect” (we know there is no such thing as perfect). I also have several self-love and confidence boost spells that I do every day. With these, the repetitive nature builds the power of the spell.

[Siofra_Strega]

Well, I have nothing to add here except a… I concur!

I am a spell tweaker for sure, but mostly protection, wards, jewelry that I may wear, self-love, awareness, mindfulness types of things, or in the past that particular spell worked well for me so I would use the same one or tweak it to make it more specific the second time around if the situation called for it.

[piper3330]

@Amaris_Bane @Siofra_Strega I am so sorry to keep asking more questions but I’m just so interested and learning so much from all you are sharing about your practices. What’s an example of tweaking a spell if you can share? How would you do this or what kinds of changes would you make/why? Maybe my constant questioning and looking for details/reasons comes from being an ex-teacher.

[Amaris_Bane]

I do not mind the questions at all!!! I was a teacher in grad school and loved it when my kids asked questions. Unless it was “what do I do next?” (I taught labs). My response then was “it is in the lab manual.”

Tweaking a spell is when you know it worked but you think it could work better. This can involve anything from changing the ingredients, the amounts of ingredients, the time you cast the spell, or even the words you use. A perfect example I have is one I’m working on right now. @Mistress_Of_Herbs, the wonderful Queen of Herbs, gave me a migraine tea recipe. She is like me and doesn’t really measure the herbs as she makes things. So I am having to play around with the quantities each time I make it to get it just right. For this case, it is balancing effectiveness with taste.

Other examples include you making an oil or rub and realizing that you react to one of the ingredients. You then need to find an alternative (or two+) that provides the same benefits as the original ingredient but doesn’t give you a reaction. Sometimes you go to cast a spell and it doesn’t work quite the way you expected. You can change an ingredient or two and try again.

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@Amaris_Bane i tried measuring when i first started, i was so anal about everything back then. Then i realized everyone is different. And each time i made the same recipe, even if for the same person, it was always needing to be tweaked., bc something just felt off.

Shoot now i just gotta break the habit of not writing things down at all when i make something new. Im like oh yeah ill remember, 6 mo later… nope lol

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@piper3330 ive learned the only stupid question is an unasked question. So ask away.

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@piper3330 tweaking a spell can be as simple as taking a component out, changing the day u perform it on, or instead of dry herbs u use eo. Or it can become super complex too. Skies the limit.

[Amaris_Bane]

@Mistress_Of_Herbs

the only stupid question is an unasked question

I love this!!!

[Garnet]

@piper3330
After the ceremony, you close your altar and open the circle. At that time, the spell is done. Now, that doesn’t mean it won’t take time for it to come to fruition, or that it cannot be repeated.
So many wonderful answers you’ve received. I have a migraine so Mine is just simple.
Blessed be.
Garnet

[MeganB]

This is such a fantastic question and is going to depend on the type of spell you’re doing. My general rule of thumb is that as soon as all the steps have been completed, the spell is cast. So if you’re doing a spell that requires burning a candle for seven days, for example, I would consider the spell complete after the last day of burning the candle.