We who have been practicing our Craft for a number of years are often approached by those requesting that we send them all of our spells. When we decline to provide this information, the seekers are often confused and angry, feeling that we are somehow hiding knowledge from them that they have a "right" to know.

The fact of the matter is that for many of us, magic is only a part, and often a small part at that, of our religion and our way of life. We do not engage in magical workings for frivolous ends..such as changing our eye color, or for selfish reasons..such as making a certain boy fall in love with us. And we do not substitute magic for plain hard work and effort to gain our desired ends by mundane means. One could think of magic as being a form of prayer, a request to the Gods for aid. Taken in those terms, to use magic for silly or selfish reasons is an insult to the Gods

Spells are not like baseball cards to be traded at the drop of hat. The power of a spell is not in some gibberish written on a page or copied from a website. It is in the focus and intent of the caster and their ability to manipulate the energies around them to acheive the end they desire. To simply read words off a page and burn candles or incense will avail you nothing. To be truly effective, a spell should be crafted by the individual requiring it, shaped for a specific purpose, empowered with the caster's will, and sent on the way with focused intent and desire. If that is not the way it is done, it is unlikely that any result will occur.

Something else to consider here is that all actions have consequences, even magical actions. And you are responsible for the consequences of your actions, whether intended or unintended. It does no good to say "I didn't mean...", the damage is done and you are now responsible for cleaning up the mess you made. If I, as an experienced practitioner, hand over a spell to a beginner who then uses it wrongfully, I am just as much responsible for the outcome of that usage as is the person who cast the spell. It would be no differnt than if I put a gun into the hand of a child and they then shot the neighbor. In fact, I am more at fault because I knew and understood the possible consequences of my actions and they did not. For this reason you will find few experienced practitioners who will hand over spells unless they are confident in both the ability and ethical training of the person to whom they give the spell.

Finally, Witchcraft and magic is not a role-playing game or the kind of thing that one sees on TV. It is serious business, and the misuse of magic can have serious consequences. If you want to play at being a Witch, fine. If you want to learn and grow and be a Witch, then start by finding out more about what it is all about before you begin spellwork and magical practice.