If one looks deeper, though, there is a completely different view of prayers and spells. With more knowledge, understanding, and experience, one will find that the spiritual properties of prayer and spell work are very much the same. Most experienced Pagans usually acknowledge this correspondence. There are a several reasons why prayer and spell work are not any different from each other.

The greatest connection between prayer and spell work is what they do. When a Pagan or magician works with spells, they are asking Deity (or whatever one wishes to describe the Source) for a favor. Whether it is through ritual, chanting, the use of magickal components, and/or other devices used in spell work, the Pagan is speaking to the Source of power and asking for assistance. Better yet, the Pagan or magician is concentrating its energies on its request and desired results, sending that energy to the Source.

With prayer, an individual is doing the same thing except there is usually no ritual or other spell components involved - it's mere thought and utterings compared to the complexed process of spell work. Sometimes someone praying will utter their prayer more than once to increase the effect of the prayer. Whether the praying individual notices it or not, they are not only asking God a favor, but also concentrating their energies on the request and desired goal. Both prayer and spell work require sending energies to a Source and therefore, spiritually have no differences.

Also, whether a more Christian-oriented individual realizes it or not, spells and prayer are ways of working with magick. "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with will" (Aleister Crowley). In other words, magick is the art of sending your energies to the Source and exerting your will (yes, this includes action) to change your surroundings. When a person prays, they desire change in their surroundings, no? The same goes for the individuals working with spells - both praying people and spell casters use magick to change their surroundings.

Prayer and spell work not only require the sending of energy into the universe, but require the individual to work toward their goal. For example, when someone prays or casts a spell for money, the person has to also put effort into saving money, budgeting, and/or job searching. Money usually does not grow on trees or appear out of nowhere - gaining the money requires work...just like many things in life. This is not to say that someone wont hand you a twenty dollar bill out of the blue (it happens), but one must still work toward their goal.

On top of the work required to make prayer and spells effective, there is one core thing about energy: it will travel where there's least obstacles. This is why people must reap proper harvest that will cut down the obstacles and therefore, achieve the desired result. Sometimes, there will be so many obstacles that the person will have to work extra hard and/or may not achieve the goal until a certain period of time. At times, patience is a virtue.

What if the magick doesn't come into effect? To be honest, I do not recall any spell or prayer that has not worked, in some form or another. Keep in mind that things in life works in mysterious ways (or better yet, God has a twisted sense of humor) ; in other words, a person probably are receiving what they worked for, but in another way. I would also like to note that because of this, broadening the desired effects will increase the chance of magick being effective...or at least make the effects more noticable - when one chooses to make a goal more narrow, they will become more disappointed in the results and may not notice what they received from their workings. Sometimes, it's a matter of being careful of what one asks for, they just might get it. If all else is void, then certain things were not meant to happen. Do not stop there, though.

What do I mean when I say to broaden the goal? It's likely a matter of opinion, but from my personal experiences, it's better than concentrating on a really narrow goal. Let me set an example. You or a friend catch the flu. One of you two work with magick to heal the flu and only that. What can happen, though, is the individual recovers from the flu, but catches another problem. So, instead of concentrating on just the flu, concentrate on getting healthy again all together.

Spell work and prayer, as far as spiritual properties go, are not different from each other - nor is one better than the other. Both work with magick, both involve asking the Source a favor, both involve removing obstacles in the way of the desired goal(s), and both work in mysterious ways. The only noted difference is the effort put into setting up spells and the effort of kneeling and uttering a hymn. Otherwise, both are arguably as effective as the other. 

*Originally posted on Aquilus Dot Net: Vampyre and Occult/Pagan Community in 2004.*

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