Magic 101: Sharing Recipes

There is not much point in sharing recipes for magical work with people. Sharing can make people who have no business doing magic feel like they can do it, too. It can make people think you’re generous. Sharing can make people think they have a chance to be their own magician or spiritual worker, and in the US where people think everything can be done by everyone, it can seem ‘friendly’ or ‘correct.’

We idealize the idea of equality here, but it’s a shallow equality that allows everyone access but prevents success. That idea of equality hides what you need to have success.

I’ve never minded other priests or spiritual workers sharing, because everyone has to make a living. But if the recipe is not given to you in the correct context—with the permission, capacity, and the training to use the recipe effectively—it doesn’t matter if you did the recipe or not. You won’t be able to do much with it. So buy a candle if you like, if it helps you feel empowered. Buy herbs, buy oils, do whatever. Without the right combination of things, it probably won’t make a difference either way.

The message that the person making the recipe is a part of whether or not the recipe works is not a popular one in the US, but it is a truism. You, if you are doing the work, are part of the recipe. You and your capacities, permissions, and training, are a part of the recipe. The permission required does not come from people. It comes from the spirit. You could have every recipe possible and it wouldn’t do a damn thing for you but make you liable for the penalties that come with knowledge that is not for you.

There is no democracy in the spirit. We do not need to be ‘equal’ to interact with the divine, nor does the path require those ideas about equality, nor does that help us learn lessons or be loved by the spirit.

I like to think of the sharing of recipes online as a sales tactic. I don’t think of that as a bad thing, since without the components that come from you the recipe won’t help you. The recipe also might be purposefully inaccurate. Worst case scenario, the recipe is empowered to cause you harm if you do it outside the correct context.

I just wish people would think about what motivates sharing a magical recipe. Democracy, ideas about equality, even the idea that you can help yourself with the recipe: none of these things will actually help you.

Contacting a priest or spiritual worker, however, might.