I get a lot of emails from people asking me "What is the key to performing magick?", "Who can do magick?"...and so on.
The first thing you need to know is that anyone can do spells and make magick work for them. There are some very important lessons you need to learn first for any of it to be effective. If there are any "keys" to magick, it's meditation and visualization. These are the starting blocks to making a spell ot ritual take form.
Maybe it's just me, but I doubt thatwhile castinga circle you will ever actually see in the physical form, a ring of ligh ascend from the ground. This is why you need to visualize the circle surrounding the altar and work area. This is part of what also makes magick and rituals so personal; everyone visualizes differently.
Visualization can take years to learn. You may only be able to hold a visualization for a few seconds now, but that will grow with practice and patience. I still have trouble with it at times. But if you have a good imagination, you're well on your way.
Meditation is another part of visualization. Actually, it's the starting point. Through out your time learning aobut these two topics, you hear lots about meditation. IT is very important since it relaxes you, puts your mind at rest and helps to balance you before magick or ritual. Here is a meditation ritual that you can do prior to any magickal workings. It is simple, and over time and with practice, will be a very important and useful tool in magick.
There are many elborate spells and methods to achive good visualization and/or meditation. Try as many techniques as you wish. If you are just starting on your magickal path, you should in essance try ALL of them until you find the one right for you. There will be some forms of meditiations thatwill only work for you on their own (meaning not before a spell or other working). This is simply because some are very long and are ment to enduce astral travel. Once you find the ones that work best for you, pick one to do before EVERY work you perform. Chose another based strictly on it's own merits for relaxation. Don't be afraid to change and adjust meditations to fit your needs. You should be 100% comfotable with the forms you choose since you often allow your physical body to be left defenseless in deep meditation.
So you should be comfortable. I perfer music to help relax me since complete silence actually makes me nervous. I hear every little noise in the house and can't concentrate. (I personally like Enya's "Watermark" CD and Medwyn Goodall's "Moon Goddess") Also you should be in a situation where you are physically comfortable (though not lying down since you could fall asleep. Not that this is a bad thing, but if by chance you slip "out of body" you'll probably jump back REAL fast and be startled awake, not even knowing that you were "asleep"). You will also want to make sure that you wont be disturbed. Turn the ringer off on the phone andturn the answering machine all the way down. Tell other people that you may live with that you wish not to be disturbed for any reason. Or you can tell then what you'll be doing if they know of your beliefs and are comfortable with them.
Below you will find two items from Silver RavenWolf's "To Ride A Silver Broomstick". They are slightly paraphrased for space sake, but are more or less directly from the book. These are two good exercises to start with. If you have any questions, email me!
