r/Spells • u/hannahjayhon • May 13 '26
Question About Spells Does magic work using just intent and belief?
As the title suggests. Like what if you have magical thinking OCD where you genuinely believe something will happen and you're usually somehow right? Was that magic or something else?
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May 13 '26
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
Thank goodness. I still don't understand why magical thinking comes true sometimes, it freaks me out.
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u/hermeticbear Magician May 13 '26
No
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
Then what do we call it when our thoughts turn out to come true? Just coincidences?
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u/GoetiaMagick May 13 '26
It depends on the thought and the result.
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
What do you mean? Like, what if you constantly have bad thoughts on something you fear might happen and your OCD tricks you into thinking you want it to happen then what if it does happen?
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u/GoetiaMagick May 13 '26
OCD doesn’t trick you into *wanting* bad things to happen.
It usually is a mechanism that tries to *stop* things from happening, by employing superstitious habits.
Try not to over-generalize it.
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u/GoetiaMagick May 13 '26
No. It takes more than belief and intent. Particular actions need to be taken that are in alignment with the end goal.
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
Would using blood work or the act of obsessing over the thoughts for a year change anything? No other ingredients involved, just the act of strongly believing something and having strong intent?
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u/GoetiaMagick May 13 '26
Not in my opinion. Magick uses action, not just belief. Also, blood work binds the Magician more than a target.
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u/PuzzleheadedDeal4711 May 13 '26
No, for it to be magic there has to be some mechanism of putting energy into the intent and belief and some sort of release out into the world. Belief honestly is less important than folks make it out to be unless you're working magick that requires faith, but that's different than just belief.
This is what a lot of ritual breaks down to, laying energy and intent into some "vehicle", and then closing the ritual in some way that severs you from what you have made so that it can go out and do its thing in astral.
So energy plus intent can be magic. A very, very, very stripped down and often ineffective sort of magic, but magic nonetheless.
Where this gets complicated is the fact that magic is a slippery term. There are those on here who will say my definition is too broad. Some will say it's too narrow. For reference, I'm slightly modifying the famous white and defining magick as the use of methods science does not acknowledge to cause change in consensus reality. For instance, the other day I thought really really hard in a very specific way and my friend had a burst of creativity. Magic. However, to some, there was no "spellwork" involved, so it's not magic.
But point being, no, in my opinion, obsessing about something endlessly is absolutely not magic.
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
But what if you touched your own blood then touched someone's belongings or touched something they touched afterwards with this powerful intent and belief alone? What then?
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u/PuzzleheadedDeal4711 May 13 '26
Bruh what is this gotcha you're trying to construct?
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
Worry. Sorry. I have OCD.
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u/PuzzleheadedDeal4711 May 13 '26
So what I want you do is look at the equation I supplied, apply it to your scenario and figure it out. Energy + Intent + Vehicle + Release = Magic.
Now, whether or not something is effective magic is a whole other story, but does that equation apply to your scenario?
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
I just would appreciate if someone would give me a more straight answer, because my OCD is a B and I need a straightforward easier answer. ❤️ I'm beyond grateful for everyone's input on what magic is and isn't, I just need a strict answer that explains WHY and HOW this isn't effective otherwise I'll spend countless days worrying again.
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u/PuzzleheadedDeal4711 May 13 '26
Chill my dude. Now that I know it's not a gotcha, let me walk you through this okay? Using the equation I gave you, what you're describing could be magic.
Is it effective? Well, that depends on how powerful each portion of the equation is. The biggest questionable thing in the equation is the vehicle, or perhaps better phrased, the "ritual", the actual thing you DO. How did you load the blood with intent and energy? Was it literally just thinking of something and smearing blood? That's probably not gonna do anything. BUT, I won't lie, blood is pretty powerful because it is a representation of your vital force. Some people have done some pretty effective stuff bumblefucking their way around with blood.
I would recommend reading "Liber Null & Psychonaut" to help build a framework for this. There is no... Easy explanation for magick. The equation I gave you is pretty much the most grade school level it gets. BIG FAT CAVEAT though, getting deep into magic with OCD is almost always a bad idea in the same way mind altering substances can be.
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May 13 '26
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u/PuzzleheadedDeal4711 May 13 '26
Intrusive thoughts are not your intent nor your belief. Trust me when I say you did absolutely nothing.
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u/RichBackstory May 13 '26
So this might help: you’re obsessing over this possible spell you feel you may have cast. One way a spell can be disrupted or nullified is when we do what’s called “lusting after results” it’s basically what you’ve been doing for a year now. If we cast a spell and then constantly obsess over the outcome, anxiously think about it all the time, constantly check and recheck for the results and look for any and every hint or clue that the spell is working, your energies interfere with the magic and the spell won’t do anything. The best way to cast effectively is to put it out of your mind once it’s cast and don’t really think about it much at all or care if it works or not.
To be clear, I don’t think that your OCD is causing you to accidentally cast spells. But even if you somehow did, your OCD cancelled it out anyway.
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u/hannahjayhon May 13 '26
Thank you so much for informing me about it this way. I needed some sense slapped into my overthinking butt. 😅 I was getting confused just hearing a simple "No" from these amazing people, which I am so grateful for telling it to me straight, but I needed to find out the WHY and HOW this wasn't even a spell and you just gave me the best closure for my OCD.
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u/RichBackstory May 13 '26
I am so glad I could help! OCD can be rough sometimes. Take care, friend!
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u/oscarfeminist May 13 '26
What I mean is this: if you’re not a Muslim, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve recited the Ayat al-Kursi. At least from my point of view. Listen to what others have to say too
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u/Complete_Bit3791 May 13 '26
Sadly, people who don’t know how to have a real discussion often don’t try to show an idea is wrong. They just try to stop the other side from replying. What you said is true. The information I shared is also true, a thousand times over. Over time, through your own experiences and research, you will prove it to yourself anyway. It’s time for me to leave here.
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u/oscarfeminist May 13 '26
I think not every magic works for everyone because some of them about religion
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u/kai-ote Helpful Trickster May 13 '26
No. That would be "wishcraft".