General spell how-to questions

[Bstnactrs]

Hi all!

A few questions:

If I do a spell on a certain day, do I have ot do it before midnight on that day?

If I have an item that I have just purchased but have yet to use, do I have to consecrate it and/or charge it? Or, is that only once it has been used and before it is to be used agian for a different spell...for example, a wand.

I read that your altar should be facing north - is this a must?

Thanks for your help!


Stasia

[Wolf*]

personally, I think all that cerimonial "on a certain day, in this hour, facing this way" stuff isn't nescecerry (I will learn to spell that word eventually), its all psychodrama used to unlock the door to your own mind and let you create the "magic".

As for the tools...eh, I'm concencratd some, and not concencrated others and they all work fine for me, but if you feel more comfortable with concencrating them, have at it.

[Moon_Stone]

I agree with Wolf-- and as Moonlit loves to say, it's the power within you that makes the spell work or not work--
All other factors are mainly procedure, in my opinion.

I've cleansed & consecrated most of my tools, all but the ones I've made myself. I do feel that is important, but not necessary.

And my altar is a porta-alter... it's all contained in its' own carry tray-- so the direction it faces really has never had any importance to me. It works any-which-way I put it. :28:

~BB~

[Fox Flame*]

I agree with what's already been said about the whole "right day to do a spell" bit. I believe that doing a spell on a certain day and time works more psychologically than magically, and it keeps you in a certain frame of mind if you've been taught that from day one. If you haven't, "spontaneous" magical workings do just fine.

You don't have to consecrate every tool (you don't even need every tool), but I do for my devotional tools, because that just represents something between me and my Gods.

[SpiritTalker]

Re: cleansing - Store-bought tools should be cleansed to remove prior psychic imprints from other people's handling. If the item won't be wet-damaged then dip, wipe-off or spritz with lightly salted water or diluted lemon juice. Otherwise use rosemary, white-sage or frankincense smoke to cleanse. We cleanse, bless & magnetize with our own psychic energy when we consecrate them. We only need to do that before their first use, or if they've been mishandled. We should wipe down store-bought candles before using them in sacred space or for a spell. Ritual tools inherited from a loved-one would value former psychic imprinting & not need cleansing, just reassigning.

The direction you face across the altar is for alignment with natural energy. Shamanic traditions associate the north with the pole star around which the heavens rotate like a sky hole to the astral realm. Also to align with the earth's magnetic pole. It matters to someone drawing on teluric energy as a power source. In Gardnerian tradition it's suggested to face east where the sun rises. It's quite flexible, for example a funereal rite might temporarily place the altar to the west which is associated with the underworld realm. Just for spell-casting facing east & moving sunward coincides with circle casting. This keeps things flowing in unison, IMO. That's just my take on it. Symbolism shapes thought energy.

Which crosses over to week day timing practices. If you accept that planetary position influences specific forces then by all means use it. I think one day ends & the next begins at sunset (not midnight) in astrology - which is beyond me so I don't use it.

I think it was in one of Cassandra Eason's books that I read of an easy way to find a date's best hour is to add up all the numbers of the date & reduce to a number 1-12. So say this is the 9th month, the 8th day, & the year is 2019; so 9+8+2+0+1+9=29; 2+9=11. So 11:00 is the best hour today to do any spell. AM or PM doesn't matter. This isn't the way an astrologer would approve at all but it still works for the subconscious & magical mindset.