A time for practice?

[Gentoo]

Sometimes flukes happen, sometimes the focus is off and therefore your results are off... also, sometimes it's just not meant to be. "No" is just as valid an answer as "yes" from the universe.

 

[Erebus]

How you practice magic is a highly personal affair. As such there is little in the way of right and wrong answers. For one person a solid foundation in the form of a tradition, a coven or family practice might be a necessity. For others all that is required is a spark of interest.
Ultimately you have to decide what you want to do. If you prefer Greek deities, but feel more familiar with Wiccan rituals you could always combine the two.

 

[dgirl1986]

Well, I didn't mean in terms of morality. I meant in terms of successful and unsuccessful. One could argue that in order for one to do good (successful) practices, having a foundation (i.e. tradition) is a requirement.

How so?

I have heard many say, and read in some books, that one does not need religion to practice magic. So I would presume that a foundation other than personal convictions on related stuff wouldn t really be needed. In terms of successful and unsuccessful, that would depend on the results wouldnt it in terms of what the intent was initially?

 

[Quintessence]

I'm not talking about needing a "religion" per se, but a metaphysical worldview or foundation/tradition that serves as the base mechanics for everything you do in ritual/spellcraft. To use a cooking metaphor, the tradition is your cooking techniques and methods, like sauteing, steaming, etc. You need to know the cooking techniques to get certain kinds of dishes. Similarly, to do certain kinds of spellcraft or ritual, you need a foundation in a certain tradition to do it. Some people cook without recipes and learn spontaneously, but it tends to involve many failures and things not coming out how you expect. And some just do not cook their food at all.

 

[Immersion]

Well, I didn't mean in terms of morality. I meant in terms of successful and unsuccessful. One could argue that in order for one to do good (successful) practices, having a foundation (i.e. tradition) is a requirement.

Thanks for the clarification. An interesting question to ponder indeed. While I am leaning toward the above argument I dont think it should be a requirement for a background. Perhaps a recommendation instead?

Honestly, I am still new to magic and ritual so it's possible I'm mistaken.

 

[Quintessence]

I'm somewhat on the fence, because on the one hand, I was dabbling in mystical things before I even knew anybody else did that stuff, much less that there were entire communities and traditions that honored or practiced such things. There were benefits to that, but there were also drawbacks. For certain things, it seems relatively unnecessary, but for others it seems very necessary.

As an example, I picked up the basics of energy work as a kid entirely on my own. I conjured it, pushed it around, and even charged objects with it. However, I had no concept of it relating to a grander metaphysical paradigm or having practical uses. It was just some neat thing I discovered and I treated it either like a game, toy, or experiment. If I'd actually had guidance and a tradition, I wouldn't have treated it so casually. To use a metaphor, it is like being handed a hammer but having no idea what it is actually used for and why it exists. You think the hammer looks neat and you play with it. You learn things from that, but it's significantly more shallow than if someone who actually knows what the hammer is shows you what it's for and why it exists. But the shallow and the fun is useful too in an odd sort of way. So again, I'm kind of on the fence on it. >_>