Will My OCD Interfere with My Spell Work?

[Glowing]

I have a strong interest in Witchcraft but I have severe OCD and I' am wondering if because my thoughts are erratic and I have intrusive thoughts, if that would interfere in spellwork?

[Kassandra]

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It might interfere with it, as you may get easily distracted, or focus on the wrong things. Or conversely, your natural ability to focus intensely on the things that interest you may actually empower your spell work. Who's to say?

There's only one way for you to find out...



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[Glowing]

Yes but couldn't my negative thoughts impact negatively on the outcome of the spell/cause something bad to happen?

[Kassandra]

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A lot of the practice of our spiritual abilities, whether through spell work or through the exercise of our natural psychic abilities, is trial and error. It will always be that way since 1. None of us are perfect, and 2. Each of us is constantly growing, constantly changing. This is why many practitioners keep "Books of Shadows." These are partly a resource database, and partly a diary of what worked for them, what didn't and why, and how they'll try it the next time in hopes of more effective results. It's like a cookbook, or a scientific journal. I guess witches tend to channel their "inner scientist"....they are always experimenting, adding new things, learning from their mistakes. So, the only way for you to find out whether your OCD will interfere with, or work in favor of your spell work is for you to do some spell work of your own and see what the results are. None of us could tell you what will happen.

Perhaps, it may help you to take the OCD label off of yourself. It may help you to keep in mind that what may be a "liability" in the mundane world, may serve as an "asset' in the spiritual world. It is often useful to think outside the world's paradigms and definitions of you, and of what is said to constitute as a "handicap," an "illness," "disorder" and all the other labels (created, in my opinion, by pharmaceutical corporations). For example, take a person with mediumship ability (meaning, he or she easily communicates with dead people). To the world, that person may get diagnosed with schizophrenia and prescribed medication. But that same person may step into a Spiritualist Church and give demonstrations of evidences of afterlife survival, and those church members may derive invaluable peace, closure and comfort regarding the deaths of their loved ones due to that medium's "gift"...or "mental illness." Do you see?

Perhaps give us an example of the kind of spell work you were thinking of doing, and we could better advise you.




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[Glowing]

I'm not sure, I'm very green and was hoping to find a good place to start...I' m really interested in nature and healing

[Kassandra]

was hoping to find a good place to start...

Ah, now that would be a new topic for a new post.



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[loona wynd]

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Perhaps, it may help you to take the OCD label off of yourself. It may help you to keep in mind that what may be a "liability" in the mundane world, may serve as an "asset' in the spiritual world. It is often useful to think outside the world's paradigms and definitions of you, and of what is said to constitute as a "handicap," an "illness," "disorder" and all the other labels (created, in my opinion, by pharmaceutical corporations). For example, take a person with mediumship ability (meaning, he or she easily communicates with dead people). To the world, that person may get diagnosed with schizophrenia and prescribed medication. But that same person may step into a Spiritualist Church and give demonstrations of evidences of afterlife survival, and those church members may derive invaluable peace, closure and comfort regarding the deaths of their loved ones due to that medium's "gift"...or "mental illness." Do you see?

This reminds me of an article I read recently about how different cultures view and see "mental illness". It talked about how they saw those same symptoms as being contacted with and having a spirit trying to work through them, while the western world saw it as an illness. So it could very well be that mental illness and spiritual awakening go hand in hand. I think its a combination of many things myself (personal experiences) but I dont discredit the fact that there could be spiritual components to mental health.

But I also have to agree very much with what you say here as well. What can be a difficulty and an issue in the real or mundane world can be turned into a benefit in the spiritual world. This is something I have recently found I did for myself and it really changed the way I write and work my spellcraft.

I took my tendancy to count letters in words and break them up into rhythmic patterns and the like which is a distraction and used that to help me write more effective chants and spells that utilize that type of repetition. Since my brain was already thinking in those types of patterns the work of changing or altering the behavior in a way that worked allowed me to create an even more effective spell for me.

.Perhaps give us an example of the kind of spell work you were thinking of doing, and we could better advise you.

This is true of basically anything in magic and spiritual work. The more we know about what you are looking to achieve the better we can help you discover your own strengths and weaknesses.




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[AnaisStar]

I agree with Kassandra that you need to remove that label from yourself. Its just going to be a road block on your path if you keep an attachment to it.

Then just begin your practice and see what happens from there.

I cant say anything more or better than both Kassandra and Loona did. They gave great advice. I just wanted to reiterate the removing of the label.

[Greek_Male_Witch]

I had and still have OCD, if your spellwork does not contain something that triggers your "OCD Ritual" then you're good to go...try to put it under control, OCD is a challenge, try to be its master...

[Echo_of_shadows]

My advice would be to try. No one knows how anything will turn out until they try. Try out a simple spell and see how it works. Then take notes and try again. Take more notes. The notes will help you see a pattern of what forces effect your work. Anything could have a hand in your outcome, be it a negative thought or the wrong moon phase. If you find the out what may have gone wrong, you can try again using something different.

I don't experience obsessive-compulsive disorder exactly, what I experience is more like Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). I'm one of those souls that's fixated on things being even, symmetrical, matching, completed in a certain order, etc. Some days I can easily let it go, other days I have to fight with myself. Take laundry day as an example: sometimes I find myself trying to match the color of a hanger to the color of the article of clothing I'm trying to hang. I'll either acknowledge that behavior and then let it go, or I'll tell myself to stop and that I'm being ridiculous. Personally, I don't think that part of myself crosses over into my spiritual practices.

Maybe you could look into working with crystals. There are crystals that correspond with almost every need, from panic attacks to phobias. I've read that amethyst is good for easing OCD symptoms. That's actually why I keep a piece of it on my mini altar.

[Kassandra]

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Yes, they say amethyst helps immensely with mental challenges. I just think it's pretty.

Great comments guys. I hope many people find all your words encouraging and inspiring. I do.



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