When have they worked?

I have a friend that is a firm believer in magic. I myself am currently an agnostic but I am open to the possibility of spells working. I would love to believe that they do, but would like to hear about how they work or when they have worked for people. I wish I could believe "You'll just feel it" at this point but I'd like to understand how they work first.

Thank you!

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First, I come from the point of view where everything we experience, even (especially) the "real" world, is just in our minds. That doesn't mean the real world doesn't exist, only that it comes into our experience through our senses and through the sense that our minds make of it. When we conduct a ritual, and it doesn't have to be a magic ritual but even a ritual like a morning routine, what I believe is happening--apart from getting stuff done like teeth cleaned or dishes washed--is that we are first and foremost dissipating neuroses.

While burning a red candle won't get someone I fancy to ask me out on a date as directly as washing a dish gets a dish clean, or…you know, asking someone I fancy out on a date…what it does is dissipate the neuroses that I would have associated with romantic love. That ritual can make unrequited love more bearable, or help me be more confident and have more personal clarity with how I'm going to conduct myself in it, and all that good stuff.

Funny thing is, it definitely won't work if I keep thinking, at every step of the way, "Oh, this thing I'm doing is just dissipating my neuroses, it's all in my head, it'll only result in a lot of melted wax that should have been saved for a blackout. Magic isn't real. This makes no sense. What am I doing?" During the casting, I need to be silly enough to believe, and then in hindsight I can understand how that had any effect in maybe more sensible ways than magic, but it won't work unless I have transferred accountability to the mystery.

I'm working with my subconscious mind, which means that I keep to a sort of oblique, tangential approach.

I used to visit this site before, and have loved the sentence the member brysing used to say- "Magic is as natural as breathing" and he stated that every spell is a wish spell and so whatever we wish - prayers to god, wish after blow on candle on cake at birthdays all forms magic....

Ingenium, I think you have totally misunderstood my comments on spells and magic. It is my opinion that spells, like prayers, are ritual wishes; not the "magic" that I was taught.
Yes, magic is as natural as breathing, in that it can be demonstrated; whereas we cannot demonstrate whether or not spells actually work! Magic, as I was taught, is the changing of one or more things into something totally different.It can be a simple change, or very complicated. I was taught that there is "natural magic", that occurs in nature; and "applied" magic that is done by Humans.

Let me try to explain. An example of "natural magic" is the changing of a caterpillar into a butterfly. (Metamorphosis). An example of "applied magic" would be extracting Salacylic acid from willow bark and Meadowsweet, and changing it into Aspirin.

According to me, magick is binding universe at our own will with grown spirituality and Inner-self! Natural and phenomenal things add up to it like eg: Use of some herbs as medicines, and the basic power point "Faith!"

Magic does work but not as many expect it to. It does not work as you see it in fantasy novels or Hollywood films, but does function in far more subtle ways. No flash of light, no loud noises, etc. Nor is magic something that necessarily works instantly. Magic takes its own time and may work right away or may work somewhere down the line in weeks or even months later. A good book to read to understand magic better is either " Spells and How They Wor k" by Janet and Stewart Farrar or " The Veil's Edge " by Willow Polson.

Understand too that magic does not always work as we expect. The Universe will take the easiest path for the energy of the spell to flow and sometimes that gives us unexpected results. Nor will magic work 100% of the time. The success or failure of a spell can be altered by many factors.

I don't do a lot of spells, that's not what I am about with my practices. That being said I have done some spells that have worked quite well. Healing spells, spells to find a job, protection spells, and even a prosperity spell have worked for me over the years.

But spells will not work unless there is strong belief in their efficacy behind them. So if you have doubts that a spell will work for you then likely as not it will not work.

I feel like your explanations have helped me better understand magic and I can see more now about what it is all about. Thank you to everyone that replied!

Magick, to me, has always been an aid. A sort of, boost, per say. If I wanted my life to go in a slightly different direction, I'd use a charm, or a spell. It's a request to a want or a need.

I recently cast a spell around last October for a job that I wanted. Visualization has always been the key. A few days later, I got a call from one of their directors from Human Resources, and they asked for an interview, and I got the job (I'm onto another job right now, but that's a different story for another time).

It's always been a helping aid, using it along side hard work and dedication. You just have to know and believe in what you're doing in order for things like that to work.

Blessings.