That Conversation about Maintenance you Probably Didn’t Want to Have

Hey there my lovies,

So, as it happens, many of my readers come here to find that one spell to do that one thing so that they never need to use spellwork again. And you know what? That's OK. I'm totally fine with that. Sometimes you just need that one thing and only that one thing, and the sweet, sweet taste of victory once it is yours is all you will ever want.

Then again, maybe it's not going to be enough… There is something to be said for using spellwork to maintain a lifestyle that you would like. Sure, you're not apt to need to curse someone once a month for the rest of your life. 😉 Heck, that's silly. And if you reconcile someone, hopefully, you're not chasing them off frequently enough to require a reconciliation spell once a month for the rest of your life. I have met people where I suspect it is possible that they might need that sort of work (heh,) but for most of us, this is not going to be likely to happen. 

So, why then, would anyone use spellwork in the sense of maintaining a desired lifestyle? If you got the high-paying job, you probably aren't wanting for more pay just yet. If so and so came back to you, you probably aren't concerned about them running off any time soon. 

That's perfectly sensible. Perhaps you never need to use spellwork again. 

But in reality, many of us want to keep a blessing in our lives. Let's take my job, for example. If I were to do a money blessing, this would increase my income for a period of time, but as the spellwork began to fade, I would notice I was making less sales. The nature of any job which one gets paid per sale does have a natural wax and wane to it (as any small business owner will tell you,) but there is a noticeable increase in sales when one regularly does work to increase sales. 

The reason is simple – if I do work to get a job, once I have gotten this job, the spell energy fades as it has accomplished it's purpose. Similarly, if I do work to reconcile a person, when they are reconciled to me, the spell energy fades as it has accomplished it's purpose. My situation does not then return to what it was (lacking that job, or lacking that person,) but my spell has done what it needs to do. This is why sometimes we only need that one spell to do that one thing. However, if I am an owner of a job, while one large (SUPER LARGE) sale might cover my income for a great long time, realistically, my income and situation is improved by a regular increase in sales over a particular duration of time. As the spell is cast, when it manifests, I begin to see a rise in these sales, and as the energy begins to fade over time, they will begin to decrease. Since, at least in my opinion, all spells have a certain life span, just doing one spell once to increase my income by increasing sales will only improve my situation for a particular time. Certainly, the increase in work and clients could improve my situation for a time longer than the life of the spell, but eventually, if I do nothing other than my best job all of the time – no advertising, no attempts to increase my revenue, – interest will begin to wane in my product or service.

To be fair, all of us will have times when we could use a blessing of some sort in our lives, despite doing our best to be our best selves. One manner of keeping the "blessings flowing" is something more than one person does already (and something a few people I know shudder at doing,) which is regular prayers of gratitude towards any patron spirit or even to the Universe. This is simple and costs nothing. When you thank the Universe/God/Spirit/s, and don't just keep asking for stuff, the response is generally quite positive. Being thankful tends to bring more to be thankful for. Another simple, easy method, is just doing regular candle work. While not everyone wants to leave a seven day vigil candle burning once a month (and as a member of the housefire club, which wasn't caused by a candle but still sucked, I do understand that,) even dressing a specifically colored tea light in the appropriate oil once per month can do wonders to maintain these blessings in your life. For example a gold candle (yellowey orange) dressed in money drawing oil can keep your finances strong, or a pink candle dressed in attraction oil can continually attract possible suitors (come to me oil is even stronger in this respect,) or perhaps dressing a purple candle with crown of success to have a blessing of success in business and in school. Burning a blue candle with peaceful home oil can keep peace and happiness within the home – this is all easily done, a tea light costs next to nothing, they come in many colors and often burn for four hours or less, so it isn't a huge fire hazard.

One should also keep in mind CLEANSING work. Yes, of course we all want the blessings, but if you regularly do not cleanse yourself and your ritual area, you may notice a build up of less-than-fortunate energies. Why? Even just feeling negative or angry can release this sort of energy. Think of it like cooking – you clean your utensils and your cookware between each use (well, perhaps not all cast iron cookware, but pretty much any other kind,) to prevent build-up of bacteria and food that might mold. And you wash yourself regularly – just adding perfumes and grooming products will not remove the filth and bacteria that will start to grow if you never wash yourself. Spiritual energy is no different. We need to wash altars and ritual tools, and even ourselves to help cleanse away residual energies that may grow to be troublesome if this chore is not carried out. 

I guess this tangent (as I suppose it very well may be,) is to remind those of you that spellwork may require maintenance to retain the blessings it brings. Figure out if this is a change made-permanent by one action taking place (for example, getting a job, or getting someone back, or getting someone to make contact, or etc,) or is a situation wherein you want the blessing to keep strong (for example a constant higher level of sales, or a more peaceful home, etc.) to ensure you are getting the most out of your magic. If you merely need one event to happen once, you will probably not require maintenance spellwork, but if you require long-term blessings to maintain the desired state, you will need maintenance spellwork. Hope that has been enlightening. 

~Cat 🙂