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by Christopher Penczak, edited by Tina Whittle
One of the things I was always taught—and which I now pass on to those I teach—is that we shouldn’t be casting circles and doing magickal spells when we are ill. What do we do when we are always ill? Cases of chronic illness and unknown illness can make it hard for us to follow that guideline, and I am certainly not saying anyone with chronic illness cannot be a Witch. Yet as a student of the occult sciences, where magick is not simply a cultural expression but a metaphysical, energetic, and tangible reality, I tend to heed the advice of my elders mostly because of my past experimentation and learning that when I didn’t, there were deep reasons to the things I was easily dismissing as archaic and unnecessary. Every good student gets their fingers burned now and then, and the trick is to make little mistakes to learn from and avoid the big and spiritually damaging ones.
I had a friend many years ago write a manuscript on the very topic, but sadly the book never saw print and he focused on other things. Recently the topic came up again in class, and the student involved suggested sharing these theories, thoughts, and guidelines in the form of an article.
So why can’t you do magick when sick? Three reasons, if not more—focus, energy, and pattern.
The first reason is that proper execution of effective spells requires some clear focus, an ability to concentrate. When you are feeling ill, that is diminished. I know many, myself included, who have learned to move through distractions and moments of unclear focus when necessary, putting whatever is going on with us aside to do the magick. And you should build the skill and discipline to do so, but when you are sick, it is a factor that can contribute to the failure of your magick and leave you feeling even less focused after the expenditure of effort.
The second reason is the mechanics of energy. Magick is entwined with life force. Even if you are using other sources of energy—and ideally you should be, whether support from spiritual allies or the ingredients in the charm or the burning of the candle—your intention and will are wrapped into your life force, and part of you guides the magick even if you are not the fuel. When ill, that vital life force is naturally going inward, in a time of consolidation, to fuel immune responses or repair of damage. When we are ill, our bodies automatically undergo many processes to bring us to health, and they all require vital life force and the attention of our bodies. That is why many of us like to sleep when sick, to shut down anything that is unnecessary to let the body do its job. When you are doing magick when ill, you are reversing the flow for a time, and robbing the body of what it needs in this mode. The automatic responses don’t necessarily understand your intention and can think you are sicker, and then respond harder because the process has been disrupted.
Our vital life force can often be seen as waves going in and out from us, into the greater sea of life force. Intentions roll out in waves, and when the spell succeeds to manifestation or fails, that wave of life force returns to us on some level. We can have many things going out at once. Some parts of our vitality are easily replenishable, but our bua and others are finite and limited; our bri and our magick can include both of these vital currents. This why you are also cautioned to not do more than three spells per Full Moon circle, to not spread your energy and focus too thin, or deplete yourself too much. If we set too much into motion while sick, even if it’s for the intention of healing, we might not have enough vitality to maintain the recovery process and instead cause further sickness or injury.
Lastly, we have pattern. Illness has a pattern to it, or a vibration. Illnesses have distinct energies and spirits. Your state of being—your own vibration, energy, and state of mind—influence the magick you are working. Magick initiated and fueled by anger is different than magick drawn from love. Cold and clear magick is different than passionate magick. All can work, but all feel—and manifest—differently. When the state of your being is permeated with the vibration of illness, that gets woven into the pattern of your creation unless you are strictly doing self-purification magick. Do you want that as part of the manifestation of your spell? I have found those who have successfully done magick when ill often have manifestations that don’t turn out, ultimately, the way they wished. The issue might be they got exactly what they asked for, but not what they wanted, due to poor wording or unclear focus. They might get it, but not be in a position to use or enjoy it because they are still ill, or the manifestation itself is subject to decay more quickly than normal: a successful opportunity that dries up, a new job or new love that doesn’t last, a protection that diminishes at an inopportune time leaving one exposed. The nature of the illness is wrapped into the magick, sometimes bringing joyless manifestations or inflamed manifestations. I wouldn’t cast wards of my home when sick, or do a spell for love or romance either, but those are my personal lines on the matter.
So when people are temporarily ill with short-term prognosis of recovery, tradition suggests waiting before doing magick. The guide for me is that if you are taking time out of work or canceling social plans, then cancel magickal plans until you resume normal activities. You can’t necessarily call back parts of you from other spells prior to being ill, but you don’t want to add to loss of energy. If those spells done previously manifest when we are ill, or just after, they will bring a little personal boost to the tides of life within us.
When someone has a long-term illness or chronic condition, there is a lot of learning to manage energy levels for all things, including magick. Everyone is different, but if you are still doing work/going to work and attending social events, then consider how magick and spells fit into the expectations and management of your energy. Sometimes with the levels of both mental energy and life force, you might have energy for work and family/friends, or work and magick, but not work, spells, and your relationships, so you have to pick and choose priorities and necessities for energy levels at these times. It’s not impossible, but it becomes more of a challenge to manage with any chronic condition.
There is not a specific guideline on the types of magick you can and cannot do, or should and should not do when ill, short term or chronically, such as candle magick is good, but potions are not. It can vary with the Witch. When you are doing magick when experiencing a flare of a chronic condition, there are three factors to consider:
1) Do I have a clear intention, and can I focus upon it long enough to do the spell?
2) How much energy does the spell require on my part? Do I have that? Do I have easy access to other sources that will fuel the spell and it will just require my intention and guiding presence?
3) Will the symptoms and spirit of my illness, its pattern, adversely influence the effect of the magick? Will there be long-term affects I can’t see right now? Are these influences simply a part of my life now, and not a big deal to manage?
If I can do the spell but not have the focus for the entire ritual of the sacred space, this is when fellow practitioners, covenmates, and tradition-mates can be a great aid. Simple folk practices of magick might be what you are called to do, foregoing a formal ritual, though the formal ritual can give you the built-in containment, amplification, and protection. Without it, you might be trying to dive deeper than you can breathe without your diving suit. While it can be a fashion to forego a formal magick circle, the old traditions I learned said that as much as possible, your spells should be in a circle, turning an act of thaumaturgy into one of partnered theurgy. You commune with the divine intelligence rather than your personal desire alone and have the protection and magnification of the energetic temple that is the circle’s sacred space.
So think about that and the underlying issues of illness and ask yourself, what do you feel up for? If in doubt or even as a doublecheck, do a simple divination on your plans. While divination can take energy and focus too, and the patterns of illness might obscure our clarity, a simple yes/no divination should be in your abilities, and if you are not up for that, then you really shouldn’t cast circle and do a spell. If you can, then divine your answer and go forth with you magick.
For more on living with chronic illness as a magickal practitioner, check out the new book Chronically Magickal, by Temple High Priestess Danielle Dionne, available from Llewellyn Worldwide.