How to Write a Spell

or Intention Statement Effectively

Learning how to write a spell or intention statement that produces the results you want is sometimes a missed aspect of learning magick and can lead to a lot of frustration and fizzled out rituals. 

A good example I heard recently on Facebook was a woman who did a spell for more money but was rather vague about it. What she got was a 16 hour shift at work that she didn't really want. Her comment was: "Universe, you know damn well that's not what I meant!"

Although spells and intention statements seem like they should be really easy to create, there is a trick to creating one that your subconscious, the Universe, and any spirits that may be helping you out can understand. The Universe manifests through your subconscious, giving you whatever you command. 

Yes, it really does. The problem is that the Universe is very literal and "now" centered. And most of us have a tendency to speak vaguely or in the future or past tenses. 

The Universe (and incidentally any spirits and your subconscious), also only hears (picks up energy, technically) in affirmation rather than negation. It doesn't hear "don't", "no", "not".

For example, when you say "I want...", the Universe gives you more wanting.

When you say "I don't want...", the Universe gives you a constant feeling of not wanting whatever that is.

You can think of it this way: You say something, and no matter what it is, the Universe's basic reply is to manifest that as a reality. For example:

• You: "I want a new job." 
• The Universe: "Okay, you want a new job."

Versus:

• You: "I have a job that is fulfilling in every way."
• The Universe: "Okay, you have a job that is fulfilling in every way."

At which point the Universe then moves all the pieces of the board to make that desire a reality. And that's why it seems as if some results can take a while to manifest. Perhaps to make the job fulfilling in every way, you have to go learn new skills, gain more knowledge, or even move locations. These things can take time to line up in our current plane of existence.

This does not in any way say that we shouldn't want (or not want) things. Desire is all a part of being human. But if you're serious about creating effective spells and intention statements, you simply need to word it differently. The reason this all seems so picky is because the Universe and your subconscious don't speak in words at all, but rather in energy (feelings are a potent form of energy). The words are for us, for our conscious, subconscious, and energetic bodies to align with each other. When we speak, no matter the language, we invoke specific feelings into the foreground, and it's those feelings or energetic patterns, that are communicating our desires.

So having said all of that, here are 6 steps on how to write a spell or intention statement (with suggestions and examples):

1. Be very clear on what you would like to manifest! This is critical. Picture it in your mind. I suggest taking some time to yourself (maybe 15 to 30 minutes) where you won't be disturbed, turn off your phone(!), put on some really great music or be in silence, take a few deep breaths, and have a blank piece of paper (or text document) and writing utensil in front of you.

2. Write your first draft. This could end up being your final draft too. As you get more experienced in writing effective spells and intention statements, you won't necessarily need all of this time and preparation. This statement should be a short single sentence. If you really need two sentences, that's fine, but the longer the statement is, the more convoluted it becomes.

3. Look for certain words that shouldn't be there. Here are some examples: want, will, won't, don't, no, ...less, and any noun (thing) that you want to get rid of such as "pain", "fear", "judgement". If you find those words in your statement, you'll want to re-word this intention so that it speaks the same result but in an affirmative way. 

Here's an example: I spent a long time trying to think of how I could re-word an intention statement that would produce a result of me not being in pain anymore (Fibromyalgia). Obviously "no pain" and "painless" didn't work. "Removing the cause of pain" is still a negative, and if taken too literally, could have some unfortunate consequences. Also the word "healthy" didn't cut it either for this particular issue, because some pain can be emotional or spiritual. So I brainstormed with my other half and he asked a few great questions. You can ask yourself these if you're stuck.

• "What does it look like to have no pain (or fear, judgement, insert your issue here)?
• "What would you be doing differently?
• "How would you feel?"

So I went with what popped into my head immediately: "My body moves and flows with ease and grace."

4. Make sure your spell or intention statement is in the present tense as if you already have what you're intending. It's more effective to say "I am in a beautiful relationship." than "I will be in a beautiful relationship." The "I will" or "I won't" statements tell the Universe that you want to keep these results in the future. Since time is a man made construct, the Universe always hears in now. Saying it in the present tense also tells your subconscious that you're ready right now for whatever it is you're asking for.

5. Read it out loud. See how it feels out in the Universe.

6. Does it feel right to you? You don't need to go get everyone's opinion on whether they think it's a good statement. In fact, it's best to keep these statements to yourself. You don't want other people's energies to confuse the issue. When the right spell or intention statement shows up for you, it will feel right - You'll know. But if you don't trust yourself yet, it doesn't hurt to get the assistance of one very trusted person who has some experience writing spells and intention statements.

Some other examples of transformed statements are:

• "I want to stop having bad relationships." could be better said as: "I am in a loving and respectful relationship."
• "I want to lose weight" could be better said as: "I am at a perfect and healthy weight for my body."
• "I want to win the lottery." could be better said as: "I am a lottery jackpot winner."
• "I want a better job." could be better said as: "I am in a fulfilling and rewarding job."
• "Remove all obstacles that stand in my way" could be better said as: "Create a clear path to my goals and desires."
• "Banish all negativity that may reside here" could be better said as: "Only positive forces may reside here."

The key here is to know that you may not get it right the first few times, and that's okay, just keep practicing. We all have our habitual ways of speaking that can be disempowering without us realizing it. But, by practicing the steps above, you'll get the hang of not only writing spells and intention statements, you'll likely start changing your daily speaking to be more powerful as well.

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Some research for this site was conducted with the assistance of ChatGPT. All information was corroborated by the owner of SigilArtandMagick.com.

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