Spells are both complicated and marvelously simplistic. No one way of performing a spell is either wrong or right. The success or failure of a chosen method being the sole determinant of appropriateness. The witch or magician is limited only by his or her imagination and the various cultures around the world offer a wide variety of choices in method and tradition to potential casters.

Be specific, but not too specific. Nature needs to be able to find the easiest path (without causing harm). So try to allow for a certain leeway. If you need money, resist the urge to direct all your spellwork towards specific areas such as "the lottery". Magick is a part of nature and must be free to work in its own way. To prevent your magick from moving in a destructive path, you can perform a simple ritual, that of Pathway Narrowing...

PATHWAY NARROWING: State that no harm will come from your spell. This not only prevents your energy from choosing an unbeneficial route to reaching its goal, but it also helps eliviate any question in your mind later if you performed a spell for some end, and coincidentally you achieved that same end at some separate, but tragic, consequence.

For example, if you performed a money spell because you were in serious debt, you probably wouldn't care exactly where the money came from as long as nobody (including YOU) was harmed as a result of it. (Ex. Lotto or a raise at your job.) We might all say that we would give our right arm to be wealthy, but a car accident that takes your arm and leaves you with a million dollars is pitiful compansation and rarely what a witch has in mind when she works a spell.

Narrowing your energy paths can eliminate the possibility of tragedy and preserve your piece of mind. The actual physics of magick can be mind-boggling. There are almost an unlimited source of doorways your energy could use to complete the goal you set for it. Like water running downhill, magick uses the forces of nature to complete its cycle. When you narrow your energy's path, you effectively close doors that could potentially lead to disaster. Since there are so many possibilities for trouble, it seems that this should be a never-ending task.

However, there is an easy and highly effective way to close all doorways to negative outcomes all with a single phrase. "Haud Harum.", is one phrase for this purpose. This is Latin for "No Harm". This prevents your energy from choosing a path that will cause harm to you or anyone else. You can also make up your own phrase as long as you stay general: "No harm to me or anyone else as a result of this spell." That way, you can sleep easy that your magick will not go awry. Just remember that you are the master of your magick. You are its creator, its keeper and its protector. Set the proper parameters for it, and it will serve you well.