Well yet another witchcraft bun fight in the offing i suppose but here goes anyway.
Those of you who do witchcraft or magick whether witches or not, does your personal form of craft (in its non-commercial aspect) have meaning without human recipients? Do you work for people, nature, the spirits or a mix or something else? In simple terms, what receives the benefit of your workings?
So before I get asked ‘what’s it to you?’ well, not giving much of a toss about the human race in general (except friends of course) i very rarely do anything for it - the odd bun in oven, the occasional healing and that’s about it. I will though always do anything within my capabilities if i am asked, but as i tend to keep very quiet about what I do i very rarely get asked. My brand of craft, woozlecraft (a totally non-contentious form of instinctive root-working along the lines of witchcraft but a little less involved) is mainly aimed at nature i.e. anything and everything non-human in origin, and not at people unless it is to render them incapable and harmless in defence of nature. I ask the question simply because I wonder if I am alone in this as most of what I have read to date seems mostly centered on humanity.

edit to add, it goes without saying that energies are balanced and sorted out where necessary irrespective of recipient as i presume we all do that to a greater or lesser extent anyway.

Well, I talk to my plants and encourage them to grow. I used to participate in Earth-healing type activities, but I've kind of lost interest in that because I no longer believe it makes any difference to anything.

Hi Woozle, You know I do lots for Nature!
Hard graft! Environmental conservation type stuff! Ive personally planted over 600 trees! Ive also written Management Plans, litter picked, trained Volunteers and worked at Zoo's! Most of this was Voluntary!
I also do work for Nature, mainly Healing stuff!
Injured animals, etc, if this involves Vets, then ive been known to pay bills for that to!
Sadly lots dont make it, but they all passed happy and safe!
I also recycle lots of Road Kill! I hate mindless waste!
I collect Raptors to use their feathers, etc.
I drag dead bodies off roads, so that Foxes etc can eat, without having to dodge cars!
Some I eat to! Handy having an ex butcher as a friend!

First off, a disclaimer: I am middle-aged, grumpy, and socio-politically unevolved. I also use magic as a learned craft, rather than an instinctive connection to the cosmos, and I use it because it works in pragmatic ways.

Who benefits? Me. My family. My household. Others who ask me to do specific things (job spells, healings, etc.) may or may not benefit, depending on whether I want to do it. I am unlikely to sew clothes for an acquaintance who heard I was a good tailer, just because they think it would be cool to have hand-made clothes and don't know how to do it themselves. They can learn to do it or buy their clothes. I have no obligation.

Same for other practical matters. They can put out resumes, they can go to a doctor. Writing a resume is a learned skill. So is a job spell. I 'give' a little on the healing thing because somebody in pain can't always muster up the concentration for surface healing, and because some people react badly to allopathic medicine. I do follow the Hippocratic injunction, 'First, do no harm', (or am I thinking of Aesclepius?) and won't suggest herbal remedies willy nilly, or just because they work for me. I'm more likely to suggest background things that will support the allopathic routines.

People I know really well, (and like, of course) can call on me for both those things and if I can I will. Some forms of magic are transactional in nature, however, and I won't do those for people not a part of my family or household, any more than I would pay their bills for them.

I realize I am leaving the whole environmental question out of this. I 'heal the earth' by picking up trash in the adopt-a-highway program and using the proper locality-specific techniques in my garden. I find that poking trash with a sharp stick and putting it either on the recycle or the garbage cart makes a more immediate difference than sending energy at it, and I can't pray without giggling most of the time anyway.

I do work with a specific animal rescue and relocation program, but that's a religious obligation hammered out a long time ago rather than any form of altruism.

As I said, middle-aged and grumpy. No higher ideals whatsoever. If I do a money spell, go to the slots, and win what I need, it's mine, all mine.

unsung

Lovely post. The above line definitely struck a chord with me though .

I don't do 'requests' so to speak because all the people I know who would consider magical help in a situation are more than capable of doing it for themselves. I do the odd thing for myself, sometimes big stuff, more often small. If I know of someone who is going through something tough and I think I could help, then I will but I don't often mention it to anyone.

Nature 'healing' or the like? Nah, it's the equivilent of kissing better a shattered fibula. I prefer to do something physical for the environment but whatever floats your boat, although I'm aware that the most successful thing a human being could do to protect the planet is commit suicide.

I guess most of my workings are for people. Like Cornish and Unsung, most of my environmental work is practical, be it picking up a bag of rubbish when I'm doing detached work or supporting a local wildlife charity.

The exception to this would be when celebrating the sabbats, the group I work with usually do direct some energy to the earth, but I rather suspect, as Jamara suggests that it's incredibly limited in what it can achieve. Perhaps it only serves to help keep us committed to what we do practically.

Q

I don't see the mundane and the magical as alternatives but as complementary things so I both do concrete things for the Earth but also try to work magically.

Long ago I came across the maxim (can't remember whose it was but it struck a chord with me) about one thing for yourself, one for those around you, and one for the Earth and I try to keep to that in a ritual context.

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

The land, the plants, the animals, the spirits. Almost never people; they can look out for themselves, as far as I'm concerned.

I subscribe to that too, always makes me feel like a fairy god-mother (or possibly goth-mother) with my three wishes.

Q

I find the symmetry of that rather pleasing. As long as I can use my own judgment as to what constitutes each of the 'ones' I think I could incorporate that into my practices without ego-shock. I think I'll try it on for a few months and see how it fits.

Thanks, Ffred


unsung

Woozle: a "bun fight" is an entertainment at which finger-food is served.
What you are introducing is more like a pillow-fight or a mind-games rumble.

I work for relations, friends & neighbours.

My workings, such as they are, fall into two 'levels', there is the daily mostly habit ritual kind of stuff. This includes the blessings I put into food, the cleansings and protections I weave into the housework etc. These are almost exclusivally for me and mine - but that includes my pets, garden and wild things that make thier home within or visit my little bit of England.
The second 'level' is much more business like, sort of formal (heck I cannot find the right words this morning). This would include the rituals I do to mark the seasons, specific observances to Gods, and wider workings for the world. I would say these are a fairly balanced mix between stuff for humanity (healings, workings for justice and prayers for guidance, temparance, eye-opening...) and stuff for all things wild, plants, animals, spirits.

All of this is backed up with practical efforts...
For example just now whilst I was out walking I filled a bag with bottles from the roadside - now safely in my recycling bin. I may get odd looks, but to me this is the price I pay for the workings I weave and lends them the power to become reality.

I too have heard of the maxim - one for me, one for them and one for the world, and that is it seems how my workings pan out.

Be bright,bebold
Fillionous

I tend to work for people. I know a few witches who regularly do workings for the land, or for various projects and I have got involved on occasion, but usually I tend to be interested in people and in their needs.