Q&A: Is Everything A Spell? (Yes, Seriously.)

Hello Occulties,

While I find it amusing to occasionally wander into chatrooms and groups and social media places where people who would rather I not say anything inhabit such corners of the interwebs (hehe,) lately I've been seeing a lot of this:

"When I say 'Righty-tightey, lefty-loosey' is that a spell?"*
"If I soak my feet in epsom salts because they hurt and then while I am soaking them say psalm 23 for no reason other than I want to pray, did I unintentionally cast a spell?"
"When I pointed at my friend and say 'I cast FUCK YOU!' and laughed, did I unintentionally curse them?"

Wow, I love magic, too, but it requires intent, so…no, the first is a mnemonic device, the second is a religious person with hurty feet, and the last there is you joking around. All three are not spells. While it's very fun when you first learn that there IS magic to start seeing how many things can be related to magic or arising from magical roots (there are a few folk magic practices that went mainstream and have been long stripped of the actual magic, for sure,) just putting a sparkly feather in your cap and calling it magic doesn't make it so. 

We all have to start somewhere and while I really love seeing people excited about learning about magic, quite frankly, the reality is…magic is often harder than you think. It requires focus, intent, and practice, and then study, and then reading, and then more practice, and then more study, and then more reading, and then more reading…then usually some disposing of earlier crap you found to be absolute crap, then reading, then study, then practice practice practice practice, then study, etc. It is not something you're a champ at over night. There's nothing wrong with that, either. 

I try to write for all levels, so I know I owe you all a spell, but Mama Cat is exhausted so that will come tomorrow. Just, as a reminder, no, as exhilarating as it is when you realize magic does exist, not everything is a spell. Without the proper focus, knowledge, and intent, you aren't just casting spells unintentionally (not least of all because unintentional spellcasting would lack INTENT.)

~Cat

*Please note: to respect the privacy of people posting, all of these are NOT things I have seen online, however the things said were at this level of questioning