You’re staring at a flickering candle, smelling of sandalwood and maybe a bit of singed hair, wondering if that "money drawing" ritual you found on a subreddit is actually going to fix your bank account. It’s a question as old as humanity itself. We’ve been chanting over bowls of water and carving symbols into wax since we lived in caves. But let's get real for a second. In an era of Starlink satellites and AI-driven medicine, do spells actually work, or are we all just playing a very expensive game of make-believe with expensive rocks?
The answer isn't a simple yes or no. It’s "sorta," and the reason why is actually more fascinating than a Hollywood special effect.
Magic, or "magick" as Aleister Crowley famously spelled it to distinguish it from stage illusions, is often defined as the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will. If you strip away the velvet robes and the spooky Latin, you’re left with a sophisticated system of psychological priming.
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The Neuroscience of Why Spells Feel Real
When people ask if do spells actually work, they’re usually looking for physical proof—like a fireball or a sudden pile of gold appearing on the carpet. That’s not happening. Sorry. However, if you look at the work of Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist who has spent decades studying the brains of people engaged in religious and spiritual rituals, the "work" is happening inside your skull.
Ritual acts—lighting a specific candle, reciting a rhythmic incantation, focusing on a sigil—trigger the prefrontal cortex and the parietal lobe. Basically, you’re hacking your own brain’s filtering system. Your Reticular Activating System (RAS) starts looking for opportunities you previously ignored. If you perform a "success spell," you aren't bending the universe to give you a job; you’re programming your brain to notice the job posting you would have skipped while scrolling.
It’s intense.
Imagine your brain is a chaotic radio station. A spell acts like a fine-tuning knob. It cuts through the static of daily anxiety and centers your focus on a singular intent. This is why many modern practitioners, like those following the Chaos Magic tradition popularized by Peter J. Carroll in Liber Null & Psychonaut, emphasize the "gnosis" state—a moment of one-pointed focus where the conscious mind shuts up long enough for the subconscious to take a direct order.
Placebos, Power, and the "Witchy" Aesthetic
The placebo effect gets a bad rap. People think "it’s just a placebo" means "it’s fake." In clinical medicine, a placebo can trigger real, measurable physiological changes. If a sugar pill can stop a migraine because the patient believes it will, why wouldn't a ritualized "healing spell" reduce cortisol levels and boost the immune system?
Belief is a hell of a drug.
Harvard researcher Ted Kaptchuk has shown that even when people know they are taking a placebo, it can still work. This explains why even skeptical witches who don’t believe in literal demons or spirits still find value in their craft. The act of doing something creates a sense of agency. When life feels like a dumpster fire, lighting a candle to "banish negativity" provides a psychological pivot point. You move from being a victim of circumstances to being an active participant in your reality.
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Think about the "Placebo Button." Most "Close Door" buttons in elevators don't actually do anything. They aren't wired to the motor. But we press them anyway. Why? Because it gives us a sense of control over our environment while we wait. Spells often function the exact same way.
Why Some Spells Seem to "Fail" Constantly
If spells worked like a vending machine, everyone would be a billionaire. They don't.
Practitioners often talk about "lust of result." This is the paradoxical idea that the harder you obsess over a spell working, the more you project a state of not having the thing you want, which reinforces the lack. It’s the occult equivalent of "trying too hard" on a first date and scaring the person away.
There's also the "path of least resistance" problem. If you cast a spell for a new car but never leave your house or look at a dealership, the "universe" (or your subconscious) has no physical avenue to deliver that result. Magic doesn't replace effort; it’s supposed to grease the wheels of effort.
The Role of Synchronicity
Carl Jung, the legendary Swiss psychiatrist, coined the term "synchronicity" to describe "meaningful coincidences." This is where the question of do spells actually work gets spooky. You do a ritual for a specific person to contact you, and ten minutes later, they text.
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Is it magic?
Is it a coincidence?
Jung argued that the inner world of the psyche and the outer world of physical reality are linked in ways we don't fully grasp.
In his 1952 paper, Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, Jung detailed cases where a patient’s dreams manifested in the real world in ways that defied statistical probability. For the practitioner, it doesn't really matter if the spell "caused" the text or if the ritual just aligned the practitioner with the timing of the text. The result is the same. The connection is made.
Practical Insights for the Modern Skeptic
If you’re looking to experiment with this without feeling like a total goofball, you have to approach it like a psychological experiment rather than a fantasy movie.
- Define your "Statement of Intent." Be specific. "I want money" is too vague. "I will earn an extra $500 this month through a new freelance client" gives your brain a target.
- Use Sensory Triggers. Smells (incense), sounds (bells or chanting), and visuals (candles) tell your lizard brain that "something important is happening." This breaks the monotony of the everyday.
- The "Forget It" Phase. Once the ritual is done, you have to stop thinking about it. This is the hardest part. By moving on to a different task, you allow the "instruction" to sink into the subconscious without your conscious ego second-guessing it every five minutes.
- Track the Data. Keep a "Book of Shadows" (it’s just a journal, don't let the name scare you). Write down what you did, the date, and what happened in the following weeks. After six months, look for patterns. You might find that your "spells" work best when they involve personal growth and fail miserably when they involve trying to control other people.
The Bottom Line on Ritual Efficacy
Do spells actually work? If you mean "can I change the laws of physics with my mind," the answer is almost certainly no. If you mean "can I use ritual, symbols, and focused intent to rewire my perspective, increase my confidence, and trigger meaningful coincidences that lead to real-world change," then the answer is a resounding yes.
Magic is essentially a technology for the human consciousness. It’s a way of talking to the parts of our brain that don't use words. Whether you call it "witchcraft," "manifestation," or "applied psychology," the mechanics are remarkably consistent across cultures and centuries.
To take this further, stop reading about it and try a simple "Sigil" experiment. Draw a symbol that represents a small, unlikely but possible goal (like seeing a blue rubber duck). Focus on it intensely, then burn the paper and forget about it. See if that duck shows up in the next 48 hours. Worst case scenario, you’ve wasted five minutes and a match. Best case? You’ve just opened a very interesting door.
Next Steps for Implementation
- Select a Low-Stakes Goal: Choose something inconsequential to test the "synchronicity" aspect without the pressure of needing a major life change.
- Audit Your Environment: Remove distractions. Ritual requires a "sacred space"—which can just be a clean desk—to signal to your brain that you are shifting from "manager mode" to "creator mode."
- Cross-Reference with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Notice the overlap between "affirmations" in therapy and "incantations" in magic. Use the one that feels more resonant to your personal style to bypass internal resistance.