Magick That Fails
Donald Michael Kraig
Magick works. Chances are you wouldn't be reading this magazine if you didn't already believe this. Yet for many, magick doesn't always work. If you have done everything properly, it should work. When your magick doesn't work, rather than simply mope around, you should analyze what happened and perfect your technique. Sometimes failure can lead to knowledge.
One of the aspects of magick that some people have trouble understanding is the necessity of having a specific object. For example, you may have the goal of having more money. You may end up covered with pennies or working as a teller in a bank. You have more money, true, but in these instances the money is not yours or is of little value. The more specific you are, the greater your chances of success.
I have been to many Wiccan rites where the purpose has been to "heal the Earth." Yet I have seen little or no results to these rituals. Is the ozone layer complete? Have oil spills stopped? Has the slaughter of endangered species ended? Has the plunder of the rain forests stopped? Regrettably, the answer to all these questions is no. I believe that there are two reasons for this.
First, when a group of people work to "heal the Earth," it is likely that no two people in the group have the same idea of what this means. One wants to stop overpopulation. Another wants to stop destruction of the deserts. A third wants to see the ozone layer restored, etc. Thus, the group's work has no focus. Second, the energy spent by those hurting the Earth far outweighs the energy that all the world's magicians can conjure—especially if participants can't even choose a single purpose.
It is time to move beyond the simplistic "let's do a ritual for the Earth" mentality. No matter how well meaning, such a ritual can only be futile.
Yet, as nuclear war seems to become less of a threat, protecting our environment becomes primary. But rather than doing rituals to "heal the Earth," I suggest doing rituals to help with one specific thing at a time. Do rituals to empower the ozone layer. Do rituals to protect the elephant population. Do rituals to help the California Condor. Find specific ways to help heal the Earth and do rituals for that purpose.
There is a further thing you must do. You see, magick happens all the time. If you do a ritual to strengthen the ozone layer, then go out and have a burger packaged in a styrofoam box; your physical actions counteract your magickal actions (styrofoam, when cracked, releases fluorocarbons into the air that break down the ozone layer). The same is true if you do a ritual to protect the Brazilian rain forests but then eat burgers from Brazilian beef raised on slashed and burned fields. If you do a ritual to protect the elephants, do not buy things made of ivory. If you do magick to increase the California Condor population, you should not use pesticides that weaken the eggshells of the Condor.
I would also suggest that there are enough problems in our own backyards that we do not have to look thousands of miles away or thousands of feet high. See what can be done in your community. In addition to magickal rites, write letters to newspapers and government officials. Work for the laws and politicians you favor. If necessary, protest to make your beliefs known.
In my book Modern Magick, I made a statement that many have commented on: "Magic is not something you do, magic is something you are." In other words, magick is a way of life, a way of acting and interrelating with the universe. A real magician tries to be consistent. With consistency, patience, effort and struggle, we can save Earth and prosper. | 
