Petition Logic

Sustainable methods of magic.

Once you’ve got an amulet or spirit who is willing to work with you on practical matters it can be tempting to rush right in to requests such as, “Help me make more money,” or “Protect me.” These requests, however, have no clearly defined scope, nor do they contain an end-point.

When a request is made which provides little in the way of parameters there can be a confusion regarding when the task is complete, sometimes leading the spirits to continue diligently pressing on indefinitely.

Work, for the spirits, is still work. They may not be lugging around flesh and bone, but they still put forth effort. This effort can be felt by the sensitive as a slight pressure in the air. When there are several spirits in one’s practice or upon their shrine which have all been petitioned in this way, lingering on tasks which should have ended at a clearly defined point in time or progress, this pressure from the spirits’ work can be more palpably felt and can be disruptive to the practitioner’s perception, increasing intensity and weight to the practice or living space. In more extreme cases, this can result in the spirit getting a bit burned out and may even register to the practitioner as, and be mistaken for, an intrusion or malefic influence that is in actuality nothing more than an overactive shrine.

Here’s the meat of the issue; A task is something on a list of things to do. It does not continue onward into infinity. A task is taking out the garbage or drawing ten new clients this week. A task is a goal which, once completed, allows the spirit ecosystem to return to a resting, peaceful position, without any doubt or confusion on behalf of the practitioner and the spirits alike as to whether or not that task is complete. “Bring me more clients,” is not a task - It is a standing order. And a bad one, at that.

Standing orders, or standing permissions if you prefer, are a second layer of activity which exist as a static state, always running but not running hot the way a task might. A standing order is a general request with no ending which matches the virtues of the given spirit in question. This layer of activity runs cool, like a background process in a computer, helping when opportunities arise with general ever-present needs in which they may be effective. Through a standing order, a spirit has permission to always be lending a hand in this area of the practitioner’s life, and permission to rest when there is no need to act. This holds space for their agency and their natural resonance with certain situations as they arise naturally. Crucially, this also allows one’s shrine space or home to avoid getting thick with the energy buildup of constant effort. This applies to normal shrine systems, as well as those of you with fifty Thai amulets laying around.

When it comes to a request for protection the defined scope of such a request is best articulated clearly and cleanly, and in tandem with the spirit’s wheelhouse. Protection where? At the thresholds? As a territorial enforcer who bounces out any intruders who make it through those thresholds? What are they protecting from? Invisible threats or physical intruders? Are they meant to constantly scan, always expending energy projecting their attention outwards in order to notice incoming threats, or do you have a spirit in your court with a standing order to strictly observe, who never acts but merely informs the protectors so that they may rest when no action by them is needed?

The attention and effort of spirits is something very much worth taking into consideration in these ways. Forcing protective spirits to take on a role of observation and vigil in addition to their protective function may dilute their potency when it comes time to flex their main talents. It may also add to the pressure in the space.

An angel who is known for witnessing or knowing things, who is given a standing order to observe and report but never act, and never audit the practitioner or their practice, can lighten the workload of the protectors significantly. And at this point there has been no tasking whatsoever - only standing orders which remain in effect continuously and permit action only when the conditions call for it. Observation alone is an energetically lighter task than scanning for threats as a precursor to action.

Should an attack make it through the defenses, an ensuing task request to “remove all malefic or unhelpful affects caused by intrusions” is completely appropriate. This gives the protector the green light to run hot temporarily until the task is complete. Both you and they will be certain the job has been done when the relief caused by their work is felt and peace returns to the space and mind state of the magician.

Defining scope and end-points are crucial, especially in shrine systems with more than a handful of spirits present. Returning to a request for money, it is worth considering what the request actually entails.

There are many possible in-roads from which cash can flow into one’s life. Without specifying an area of focus the results may land as a gift from family rather than the self-generated income of a few extra sales this quarter. Usually we would prefer the latter, but if there is some outlying issue with the business or one’s performance at work which is spiritually blocking profitable gain then a gift from a loved one may be the path of least resistance, like it or not. If there is a blockage preventing flow and the spirits are assigned to bring in money specifically through the channel of legitimate business, then they will have their full attention fixed there. They may work out the blockages themselves rather than going through a different channel to get the money to you, or they may make you aware that some healing or road clearing work is needed before they can bring the petition to fruition through the specified channel.

Specifying helps, both in getting the results desired and in troubleshooting possible blockages. If the request for “more money” is left just as vague as that, the resulting amount might be less than what was needed, or may occur with such infrequency that whether or not the spirit is working at all comes into question unjustly. This unspecific sort of request neither fits as a standing order nor a task.

“Ensure ethical, sustainable, financial growth,” is a good standing order. So is “Help those who will appreciate or benefit from my work to find and engage with it.”

“Draw as many new clients as possible for the next seven days,” or “Help me make $1000 by the full moon,” are good, solid, well-defined tasks. They have a definite scope and ending.

These nuances are not necessary because the spirits are stupid. They are necessary because the spirits actually listen to what we ask for and how that is framed. Practical spirit work benefits immensely from systems-thinking, precise wording, and holistic metaphysical considerations, regardless of how poetic we may be.

Obviously a one-off spell with a spirit who does not reside in your home requires less precision in this respect but when it comes to a home shrine or a shrine system, especially one in which a spirit intercessor might micro-manage a whole court of spirits on behalf of the practitioner, these considerations can have an enormous impact on stability, lucidity, and the longevity of the shrine and spirit ecosystem.

If you found this helpful, let me know by liking or commenting. Or share it around. I’m considering putting together another course on such things if there is enough interest and the spirits think it’s a good idea.

Until next time, happy enchanting.