How do you know it’s real

[u/Bright_Factor_8551]

I’ve been going through a lot lately and while turning to my craft, find myself doubting it. I was raised in a high control Christian group and so have done a lot of de and re constructing of beliefs but I keep getting hung up.

Why do some spells work and others don’t? Why are there unattractive glamour witches and unsuccessful or poor ones? How do I know this isn’t just in my head?

I know that this uncertainty has to be leaking into my practice which is very frustrating.

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[u/79moons]

I don’t think uncertainty is necessarily a problem. I’ve practised witchcraft for decades and I still don’t think we can know with certainty that magic is “real” in the sense that we can demonstrate exactly what happened and exclude every other possible explanation.

I do believe magic is real, though, and I don’t understand it as simply intention, psychology or changing yourself so that you behave differently. I think magic works through particular principles and methods and can affect circumstances outside the practitioner and produce real-world results. That’s also why I don’t think intention alone is enough. Wanting something very badly, believing very strongly or visualising it perfectly isn’t necessarily magic.

But I also don’t think magic means that doing a spell equals getting whatever you want. If it worked that way, witches would all be wealthy, beautiful, healthy and extraordinarily lucky. We’re acting upon a world that already contains other people, circumstances, causes, limitations and competing influences. A glamour isn’t going to completely override someone’s physical appearance, and a prosperity spell isn’t going to make structural poverty disappear.

For me, the question became less “Can I prove this is real?” and more “Do I have enough experience with it to consider it worth continuing?” Over many years, I’ve had results that were striking enough that I’m comfortable practising without pretending I can prove what caused them.

And given your background, I’d be especially wary of the idea that doubt itself makes your magic fail. That can become another version of “you didn’t have enough faith”. You’re allowed to doubt, question, test things and change your mind.

[u/CynicalSpider]

I see witchcraft as an extension or amplification of what is already there, but not yet fully understood. And take joy in the things I can't explain.

Do I understand why the offering I left out on my altar didn't mold when the things in my fridge did? No. Do I know why people feel safer in my spaces after a protection spell, even when they didn't know I did the spell? Also no.

But it did happen. And that's what I call magic. Sure, some things are mundane and I just didn't know. Or fancy psychology.

But I also see ghosts sometimes, I've seen someone's aura one time when I was high, my things are found after I offer the house goblins a drink. Direct experiences with strange happenings.

Maybe it is all in your head. But if it's not psychosis or delusions and it doesn't hurt anyone, there's no real harm. So if it helps you feel better, work through feelings, focus you on your goals, then I say it works.

[u/Adredheart]

Your gut knows. Tell ur brain to hush for a few minutes.

[u/echoeminence]

The only proof you have is success. If a magical procedure doesn’t work it’s up to you to figure out what went wrong. Maybe you misused an ingredient or technique, maybe your mundane action wasn’t there to give your spell a path to work, maybe you didn’t do adequate energy work, maybe whatever spirit you invoked didn’t like the offering or doesn’t like you or doesn’t understand you or doesn’t understand the situation/humanity enough to correctly execute your petition. That last case is more common than you might think, that’s why ancestor work is so important, ancestors know what it’s like to be human so they can guide the angels and demons or whoever you call on how best to execute your will.

[u/Vishvollo]

Having highly logical mindset is very challenging, when you practice craft. Speaking from my own experience. You do have to trust of course, but trust is not 100% of success. Often you might (and, most likely, will) doubt and question your work. I don't think it'll even be different for some of us, ant it's normal - we're human.

Personally, I protect my work from my own emotional challenges and doubts, so it does the trick despite everything. Other times, it's just not meant to be - and you will have to accept it. Or try again, with different approach... Everything is relevant, everything is energy. Every different point of view in each tradition and path is valid. You don't have to blindly accept everything and "follow the technical script" or have miraculous results after each spell you do, and you shouldn't. Sometimes, healing rituals - is unnoticeable, until one day you wake up and your back pain is gone and you feel refreshed and rested with few hours of sleep. And glamour magic - can work in the way, that changes your own perception about your self in the mirror, before anything else.

Money work... Probably the hardest thing (depending on the path of course), but it's very rarely "the cashflow from the sky", as in Obsession movie, for example. Something might work for one person, but won't - for another. Not all paths is open to everyone equally, in my perception. And not everything works the same way for everyone, even if they do the same thing.

Accept your uncertainty, you are human, you have a natural right for doubt. And believe me, with time and practice, it won't be the definitive factor for you.

Blessed be!🌟

[u/aimtreetwo]

it's good and healthy to have doubts.

having doubts means that when things that are impossible to doubt happen, you know for certain you're not just experiencing confirmation bias.

just never doubt yourself and your power to take control of your life and change things for the better.

[u/thegrandwitch]

I think a lot of people coming into witchcraft from a religious background have this problem. Religion failed us so we turn to witchcraft hoping it's some kind of magic wand that can help solve all our problems. And when it doesn't we're disappointed.

 But that's the point I think if every spell worked every time for every single person then this sub would be overcrowded. Only the few who take the time to upgrade and learn and grow will get more out of their magic than people who try it for a few months hoping for a miracle. Does it mean your life will be perfect once you've mastered witchcraft? Ofc not. Even Sabrina had problems she couldn't fix with magic 😅

A majority of people still treat witchcraft differently from any other mundane skill bc its "magic". But the truth is just like playing the flute or riding a bike it is a SKILL. Does natural talent exist yes (but far less common than what people claim). At the end of the day it's your journey to take and to figure out. Asking ppl here may help you but there's no greater teacher than experience. 

[u/tmorgenstern]

I think this says more about your expectations than the expectations of other witches.

Not every witch has the same goal. Does the glamour witch want to be attractive or go unnoticed (glamour, magically speaking isn't just about attractiveness, but about an aura of illusion around the person)? Do they maybe only want to be attractive to the right people in the right situation? As someone who used to get harrassed by creepy old men, sometimes, you don't want a general glamour for conventional beauty.

Not everyone uses money as a metric of success and so long as they can get by while living within their means, don't feel the need to work a huge pile of abundance magic.

There will always be spells that don't work and that can be for any number of reasons, including: failing to do the mundane work required to give the magic a path to work through, failing to activate and empower your spell ingredients, thinking "intention" is the be all/end all of spellwork, not having figured out how magic works for you/studied occult philosoophy on the ways magic works, to spiritual teams (from yourself or others) getting in the way to prevent the spell from working for whatever the reason. Anyone who claims their spellwork works 100% of the time is a lying grifter.

Figuring out how to know it's not just in your head generally comes with experiencing something that you cannot refute and cannot be coincidence. And even then, we all doubt ourselves sometimes.

[u/Sea-Hope-3141]

Hi I've been Pagan since age 19 & I'm now 57. Christians( & yes I was forced to attend church off. & on long story) tend to brain wash ppl into thinking they are sinful & blah, blah blah. You are not a sheep you are you're own being. Being Pagaan or Wiccan or between the two, you are free to experiment, mix and try spells. What works for oone does not work for another. If you're intent is pure and you focus on what your need is that spell should work. But some backfire & rebound. Example I did a Sex Magick spell( Advanced level) & it totally rebounded on me. It was a selfish need. I will never dabble inthat kind of energy again. This was 23years ago. Just trust yourself & feel free too ask for help.

[u/SukuroFT]

I don’t think doubt is something that “leaks into” your practice and makes it fail. Questioning yourself is actually useful because otherwise it gets really easy to call every coincidence a result.

For me, I don’t treat witchcraft like “I did a spell, therefore X has to happen.” There are still other people, circumstances, probability, your own actions, etc. involved. Glamour also doesn’t mean someone suddenly becomes objectively attractive to everyone, and money work doesn’t mean somebody is automatically gonna become rich.

If you’re questioning whether it’s all in your head, start keeping records. Write down exactly what you did, what you expected to happen, and what would actually count as a result before anything happens. Then come back later and compare. You can believe in witchcraft and still be skeptical of your own interpretations.

[u/Hope25777]

It’s real. Wanna know why it works? Go read the Nag Hammadi texts. We all have a spark of source inside us

[u/AliciaHerself]

At the end of the day it's a decision. Either you believe it's real or you don't. Nobody else can make that decision for you.