Basic formula for a spell {Esoterica}
- lauraruthhayes
- Apr 4
- 9 min read
Having practised magic my whole life, because everyone is, all the time (magic being simply the power of the mind, a number of psychological tools we use to affect and interact with reality) I’m often asked for tips and advice regarding energy blockages or spell work. There's no one size fits all, and I firmly believe the most effective magical acts are ones that are extremely personalised and informed by a consistent practice and one's own intuition. The good news is there are a tonne of practices that make ANY intention setting supercharged, and I hope to provide a brief but comprehensive list below. I say brief because I feel I could write a different version of this guide once a month for the rest of my life (there is so much to cover!) but here goes. There are many pre-existing practices that need to be in place, and many things that need to be considered long before a spell is cast for it to be most effective. I could tell you to grab a sprig of rosemary and spin in a circle three times, but unless you have a deeper understanding of why you are doing what you are doing, it's not going to get you very far.
So, to begin:
REGULAR MEDITATION
I know everyone with access to the internet has heard the benefits of regular meditation at least once a week for the past decade, but there's a reason for that. It works! No matter what you are trying to achieve in your life, regular meditation will help. I'm not going to turn this into another ‘benefits of meditation’ piece, because there's already a surplus of those online, and I encourage you to investigate if you are curious. What I will say is that allowing the mind to be quiet allows us access to other, deeper voices within, that are unable to surface when the constant mental chatter is happening.
Something important to mention is that a lot of the ways we are taught to meditate are not suitable for those with complex trauma or ADHD/autism spectrum disorders (as well as many others), and the ‘sit still and close your eyes’ model was never particularly effective for me. It wasn't until I allowed myself to move and fidget, have my eyes open and unfocused, and make noise if necessary, that my meditation practice felt enjoyable and expansive. If the foundation of a magical practice is gaining access to our imagination, which requires a quieting of the ‘thinking’ mind, then step one is whatever allows us to ‘clear the mind’, which may not mean sitting still in silence!
Regular meditation allows us to receive guidance from our intuition, which is useful for literally everything, but especially for magical and energetic practices. Our intuition is like the voice of our subconscious. It senses things our conscious awareness can't, and it knows things we don't. The more you meditate, the more perspective you gain, the more space you give to different and deeper parts of yourself, the more whole you become.
JOURNALLING & INNER WORK
My life changed drastically when I started a regular (as close to daily as possible) writing practice. Granted, I knew I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t start consistently writing anything I was willing to show anyone until years after this point. What journaling did for me was allow for deep psychic excavation. It is another way to communicate with the inner self, and when you have kept a regular practice, it's truly amazing to look back and see how the world responded to your sometimes seemingly unsolvable dilemmas once they were articulated on paper. It's as if the pen syphons all of the thoughts swirling around one's brain out onto the page, and once they are there, they tend to stay. It's the cheapest form of therapy, if you are committed, and willing to be completely honest with yourself. It enables an intimate understanding of oneself- which allows us to know truly what we desire, and also identify where we are self sabotaging and standing in our own way. Priceless.
ENERGETIC HYGINE
This is a big one. Think of this - you go to a gathering indoors where lots of people are smoking, and when you get home guess what - you can still smell smoke on you. It lingers. Well - energy is the same, even if you can't necessarily perceive it. We’ve all returned from an outing feeling significantly different to when we left. If you live in a city (and even if you don't) you are interacting on an energetic as well as a physical level with people all day, and most people’s energetic bodies extend much further than their physical forms. Most of us have never been taught correct energetic hygiene, and because of this, most of us are carrying things we needn't.
If ‘boundaries’ is a topic most of us are just learning in the past few years, imagine the work that needs to be done for the boundaries most people barely acknowledge exist! Close your eyes, and try to picture your energy boundary, or your ‘aura’. Is it bright or dim, wide or small, what do its edges look like? Does it pick up other energy easily, like a sponge, or is it very hard, not letting anything enter? Try filling it with a liquid golden light, as if there is a tap above you, rinsing away any debris.
If you want to cleanse yourself energetically - I recommend above all else - regular salt baths. Bathing in salt water is in almost every ancient spiritual practice as energetically purifying. You can also use visualisation techniques to strengthen and cleanse your aura, and there are a myriad of ways to protect oneself energetically. Get creative!
BE AWARE OF YOUR ENERGY
You might feel a desire to cast a love spell whilst in the throes of romantic rejection and heartbreak, or a money spell when you're panicking about your overdraft, but the mental intention is only half of the game. The other half is your emotional and energetic body, so if you are asking for something you really want whilst feeling an acute lack of it, then guess what - it's not going to work. The mental and emotional need to be aligned.
Thoughts + feelings = belief. You need to feel as if what you are asking for is as good as yours. A good way to synchronise the left and right hemispheres of the brain so you can drop into calmer states, reach the subconscious and invite change, is to cross the legs and focus the attention on the heart. Exercising or doing breathwork beforehand are also excellent ways to ensure you can reach your desired emotional state.
CLEAR THE ENERGY OF THE SPACE
Do not begin any kind of energetic work without first clearing the energy of a space! You can clear a space with smoke smudging, oils, salt, vinegar, sounds such as chimes, drums, singing or even clapping, or with visualisation and intent.
If you haven't energetically cleared your home for a while I recommend opening all of the windows and filling the space with the smoke of a dried plant like sage or rosemary (look into the plants used in your ancestry, and try to use those that are local and sustainably accessible). I also like to visualise a cord going from the centre of the room or building, into the centre of the earth, which I imagine as a glowing green circle. See it creating a sort of ‘energetic plughole’ with a gravitational pull that clears all the stagnant energy out of the space, as if it were old dirty bathwater spiralling down the drain. This energy gets transmuted when it reaches the centre of the earth. Then you can open up a cord at the very top of the space, coming down from the cosmos (as above, so below) and invite light and healing energy in. You can use the same technique for your own body as well.
TEND TO THE PHYSICAL
Having a physical body is the reason that we can influence the physical plane, so take care of yours. Your body is your instrument. I've spoken to many people who believed that to heighten one's psychic senses they needed to somehow ‘ascend’ or get ‘out of body’ but actually the opposite is true. You need to be fully in your body, so get grounding. Take your shoes off , or place your palms on a tree (particularly an evergreen, which has its ‘life force’ all year round). This has so many measurable benefits. In Chinese medicine, the name for vital life force energy is chi or qi. In other disciplines this is referred to as prana, mana, ka, etc. In fact western traditions seem to be the only ones who don't have a specific name for this energy. A popular way to stimulate your chi is through dry brushing the skin and massaging the lymph. Chinese medical practitioners believe that a chi deficiency is linked to the spleen (an integral part of the lymphatic system), so I would hazard a guess that for effective energy work, your lymph needs to be in good working order- aka. You need to move often.
A CLEAR INTENT
Decide what you want - to bring, to release, to change, etc. Get really specific- and find a way to phrase it so it isn't a negative, so for example if you want to stop procrastinating - put the focus on what you want to start doing or feeling more of - for example - ‘I spend time being creative.’ Why is this? Well the subconscious doesn't understand negative statements- it will just hear the thing you want to stop doing as the thing you want to continue (like dont think of a purple elephant). Our subconscious understands symbols and impressions- so the best and easiest way is to focus on a scene or situation that makes you feel super alive instead of asking it to focus on something you are trying to avoid. Make sure you have your intention written down and well phrased, so it feels powerful when you say it aloud. (Also, this should go without saying but do not mess with anyone’s free will.)
MATERIALS
I always recommend having objects that embody the four elements, which are at the centre of almost every magical discipline. So, some salt for the earth, a candle for fire, some water, and a plant for air, but you can choose anything that you personally resonate with- and I believe using your own intuition is always going to be much more powerful than following someone else's rules.
Different plants embody different properties, so for example, if you are hoping to bring more luck and abundance towards you, I’d recommend incorporating plants associated with Jupiter, the planet of expansion, such as oregano, mint or pomegranate.
You might choose to incorporate an altar with photos of loved ones, or even your favourite artist or writer, and have the intention for them to assist you. Whatever you use, just make sure it has meaning and significance to you and your intention.
TIMING
Lunar cycles and moon phases have always played an integral role in the various magical traditions, and we can expand out and deepen our practice by looking at planetary transits and interactions as well (again, as above, so below). For example, if you want to do a spell to invoke greater discipline in your life, it would be worth investigating when Saturn will be in a beneficial aspect to the Sun (self), or Mercury (the mind).
At the very least you could perform said spell on a Saturday, aka. Saturn’s day. Otherwise, certain times like solstices and equinoxes carry great energetic potency too, and appear to be the temporal equivalent of ‘thin places’, acting as energetic portals.
There will be certain dates and times which are significant on a personal level also, such as your solar return. Most practitioners do spell work on or around full and new moons, and again, having an awareness of which signs and planets are activated and how they are interacting with your personal chart can make a huge difference in terms of the energies you can access.
ACTIONS
So what actions exactly are you going to perform in your spell? Well, once again it's up to you and I’m always going to say trust your intuition over anything. Still, I would suggest (once a space is cleansed) any combination of: casting a protective circle, doing breathwork to enter a light trance state, lighting candles, calling in the elements, calling on any energies, spirits, guides, ancestors etc. to assist you, giving thanks, saying prayers, visualising your desired outcome, singing or repeating a mantra, and elevating your emotional state. Once you have finished, make sure you close the circle and release any spirits/ helpers from the other side.
RELEASE
This can sometimes be tricky, but you essentially need to think of your request as being taken care of behind the scenes, beyond your perception, and you need to let it go, and act as if you know it is on its way. Surrender to a state of receiving.
Don’t expect immediate results, but do acknowledge and celebrate any small signs via synchronicities that your request has been heard. When the desired outcome arrives - really celebrate and anchor these emotions into your body and your reality. This reinforces your intuition, which some believe to be messages from your future self. Doing this enough times creates a wonderful energetic feedback loop to draw upon.
And finally, a quote from master magician Damien Echols:
‘YOU CAN TELL WHEN SOMEONE IS ON THE PATH OF MAGIC BECAUSE THEIR LIFE BEGINS TO IMPROVE EXPONENTIALLY’
Laura Ruth Hayes
Find more of Laura's writing at: https://lauraruthhayes.substack.com