I'm sure we all have experience of doing a working that doesn't 'appear' to have worked. - why is that?

Do folks subscribe to a belief that 'a greater power' (deity or the universe etc) has a role to play and that the working didn't fir into the 'greater pciture' so didn't work etc?

Just interested

Ed

There are many reasons. The gods are against you, someone else working against you, it doesn't fit the bigger picture, you're trying something that's just not possible. But I think the most common is Operator Error .

Or according to Mr S you just need to wait.......and wait.....and wait......

I usually find things sometimes dont work because: your intent was either not focused enough or the intent was not clear enough. It could also be that you just didnt get it right, that something with the "spell" itself is wrong for the purpose or has been created in the wrong way.

Two thoughts occurred to me, in addition to the points made already. One is that the PTB work to a different timescale to us, so 'something' may happen long after you think it hasn't worked. The other is that 'No' is also an answer.

Doesn't that make magic just a form of prayer?

Not exactly. There is also prayer, but magic with gods is more a working together. Something much more intensive and (in Heathen terms) designed to tweak wyrd. Speed it up, slow it down or divert it slightly. Prayer is much more a matter of leaving it up to the god. Magic is gaining the agreement in advance of one or more of them to help. It's active, where prayer is passive.

Others may experience it differently. But I'd agree that sometimes the timescale can differ from one's expectations. That can be affected by operator focus. I've done wok before at a less intensive level than normal and it took two years to come off. However, when it did, it worked for more effectively than I'd envisaged, but it was something which wasn't going to happen spontaneously, of its own accord. I'd say operator focus, ability and whether one is working with wyrd (or 'the flow' if you prefer) are the most important factors.

I generally know when something is going to work or not. When something works there is a sense of 'magic' in the atmosphere. Usually accompanied by mental clarity. definitely would not say it was prayer, more like contact with something, an energy perhaps. but I don't know for sure.

does anybody else experience that sense of 'magic' - could it be regarded as a sort of evidence for successfulness of a working? would the absence indicate the liklihood of failure.

Would be very interested to hear more.

fizz.

In a sort of sense I suppose some types of magic are like a form of prayer. If you work with Deities, (or maybe even if you don't, but I wouldn't know about that), then you are asking their help with something which is beyond your scope to deal with. If whatever it is you are working for is for some reason incompatible with the bigger picture for some reason... for example if you wanted to do a working for world peace... excellent idea, but impractical and requiring theoretically more energy than even a large group working together could hope to achieve... then the answer would be 'no'. I believe that we are able to effect some changes within a framework of wyrd, fate or whatever, but there are limits placed upon us.