What's something you believed as a beginner that you don't believe now?

[faust]

Just a fun question I was thinking about. Also, what is something you didn't believe as a beginner, but do believe in now?

When I first started out, I was really big on substitutions and kind of had this (now embarrassing) mentality of everything being up to the practitioner and how the interpret it. Until I began actually learning about why things mean what they mean in terms of their ritual usage, I was what I called a 'rosemary practitioner' now. Out of anything? Just use rosemary! Even if you're missing the most important part of the spell! Instead of writing your own spell using things that you do have by doing research, just be completely lazy with it! Fun times. It was like this for probably the first year of my practice, too.

Let me hear something embarrassing maybe? Did you make up silly rituals? Did they work or do you feel like a fool? Did you believe something really dumb you read online or in an old book? Let me know.

 

[MrSecond]

That demons did not like being compelled through Solomonic methods of invocations.

After practicing different grimoires and studying foundational texts on thaumaturgy, such as Neoplatonism, I quickly found out that they do not care at all, since most of the commanding language is for the purpose of elevating the psyche of the magician, and we're not really forcing any spirit.

 

[jbyer]

When I first started out I believed that mind control was done with a device in the brain. I later realized that the brain isn't real and we are all part of a simulation.

 

[Saint]

When I was little I believed -for a brief, brief period of time- that I am below the Infernals, Angels or other Deities. I learned that in fact, I am not.
I'll never see them again as such, but instead, equals. Deeply respected and valued equals; for I learned to love, respect and value the strength, knowledge and history of my own soul the same way I see them, and I found out, I am, by any means, no different.

 

[skatedom]

I thought it was easier to do magic lol, then I realized you have to study a lot.

 

[halafman]

That Magick changed external reality

 

[Lurking Magician]

That I could restrict my studies to a single topic. Everything in magic is interconnected, to fully understand a topic, you must have at least a superficial understanding of a hundred more. And not all of them strictly magic or occult related

 

[Robert Ramsay]

That Magick changed external reality

It does, however, affect which permutations of external reality you experience.

 

[Morell]

Honestly? I thought that I'll be able to learn to levitate myself and cast pyro-balls...

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Honestly? I thought that I'll be able to learn to levitate myself and cast pyro-balls...

"We were heinously lied to by our album covers!"

 

[Accipeveldare]

Just a fun question I was thinking about. Also, what is something you didn't believe as a beginner, but do believe in now?

When I first started out, I was really big on substitutions and kind of had this (now embarrassing) mentality of everything being up to the practitioner and how the interpret it. Until I began actually learning about why things mean what they mean in terms of their ritual usage, I was what I called a 'rosemary practitioner' now. Out of anything? Just use rosemary! Even if you're missing the most important part of the spell! Instead of writing your own spell using things that you do have by doing research, just be completely lazy with it! Fun times. It was like this for probably the first year of my practice, too.

Let me hear something embarrassing maybe? Did you make up silly rituals? Did they work or do you feel like a fool? Did you believe something really dumb you read online or in an old book? Let me know.

I used to believe that somehow the universe cared whether i lived or died and such. Then i realized that the universe is impersonal to what happens to me so i have to actually do the work to leave my mark.

 

[Elari]

I used rosemary for almost everything aswell, I abused it so much that my mother started to question why her rosemary jar would dissapear from the kitchen lol.

 

[Kellhuss]

More of a satellite issue to beliefs concerning practice, but as a teenager I was reading the Schrodinger’s Cat trilogy by RAW. I’m old so this was when the trilogy was still published in single volumes rather than the collected book as now. The single volumes contained outrageous sex scenes which were edited out on the way to the collected edition.

There was also a popular science book popular then by John Gribbin, that also had ‘Schrodingers Cat’ in the title.

17 year old me talking to this gorgeous milf and she mentioned she was reading ‘Schrödingers Cat’ - so I went full cringe and said ‘Pretty hot sex scenes too’ with a wink.

Reader, she ran far, far away. Didn’t realise my mistake until I was 25 and read the Gribbin book myself. And no, It didn’t have any sex scenes.

 

[iseht]

Honestly? I thought that I'll be able to learn to levitate myself and cast pyro-balls...

I've heard tale of a qi gong master accidentally killing a hamster with a qi blast. There may yet be hope for your pyroblasts.

 

[Ohana]

I used to believe that somehow the universe cared whether i lived or died and such. Then i realized that the universe is impersonal to what happens to me so i have to actually do the work to leave my mark.

I hope the universe is impersonal. I hope it doesn't care because what would it actually mean for the universe to care? Would you have to be so safe so the universe doesn't get upset that some or all get scraped by something once? Would anyone be able to live? Like literally living things including people originally had to take risks to get food.

People still do to live. Its a risk to drive, go on a bus, or train. Would anyone be able to go on those? Don't like to think about it.

I hope the universe doesn't care at all and I prefer that world view.

Anyway when I was smaller I thought the whole soul barter thing was real. You could just sell souls. Then I went even further and I thought there could be a whole soul stock market. That last part was thought mostly as a joke but it kind of crossed my mind since I mean if the souls is technically a good thar can be sold.

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

I used to vehemently think you couldn't use divination for people over the internet when I started. I thought that there had to be spirits in a physical room for it to work so the person you were doing tarot or whatever for had to be with you too.

 

[Accipeveldare]

I hope the universe is impersonal. I hope it doesn't care because what would it actually mean for the universe to care? Would you have to be so safe so the universe doesn't get upset that some or all get scraped by something once? Would anyone be able to live? Like literally living things including people originally had to take risks to get food.

People still do to live. Its a risk to drive, go on a bus, or train. Would anyone be able to go on those? Don't like to think about it.

I hope the universe doesn't care at all and I prefer that world view.

Anyway when I was smaller I thought the whole soul barter thing was real. You could just sell souls. Then I went even further and I thought there could be a whole soul stock market. That last part was thought mostly as a joke but it kind of crossed my mind since I mean if the souls is technically a good thar can be sold.

I was very comforted when i came to the realization of impersonality.

It felt as though i could stop performing for it because it didnt care anyways.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

I used to believe that somehow the universe cared whether i lived or died and such. Then i realized that the universe is impersonal to what happens to me so i have to actually do the work to leave my mark.

Same.

Now i see the Universe as a giant web : having different connections I NEED to discover or as a motorway : it's up to you to catch the good car.

 

[Reynard]

To start, I believed magic was about mental positivity and committing yourself to an outcome, manifesting your desires by actually doing something about it, by setting objectives and working your arse off to achieve them. I guess I believed in the psychological aspect of it. (This is the angle I'm using for my leadership degree at work, and there's no doubt that reframing it in this way is genuinely useful and effective.)

However, in practicing magic, I know that there's more. It isn't just inner work or reframing things. All that psychological stuff is true, but so is causing actual change, seeing the unseen, finding the lost, being lucky by choice, making things happen that wouldn't (couldn't? shouldn't?) otherwise have happened. In less than two months of practice, I've actually hotwired reality/the universe (albeit in small ways).

So, yeah, I believed magic was magical in a sort of spiritual sense, as a psychological toolkit. Now I still do, but I also believe magic is actually magic.

Post automatically merged: May 3, 2026

Honestly? I thought that I'll be able to learn to levitate myself and cast pyro-balls...

This happened a couple of years ago, before I started practicing magic.

My partner and I used to have a golden retriever, the absolute best dog ever. He loved cheese. Dog could be asleep in another room, and I'd open the fridge and WHAM, he's right there in front of me, drooling on my toes. Even saying the word "cheese" made his ears prick up, so we started jokingly referring to cheese as "carrots". (Like, "Do you fancy carrots on toast for breakfast?" or "Please can you add carrots to the shopping list".) It wasn't long before he was on to us and his ears would prick up and there would be a slimy pool of drool on the carpet even if we just mentioned the word.

Anyway, a couple of years back, my partner was away for a long weekend with some of her girlfriends, and I was alone at home with the dog. I'd just let him out in the back garden for a pee. It was brisk and windy, so I went inside, shut the door, and stood by the window so I could let him back in when he'd finished. Whilst I waited, I texted my partner. I still have the message in my WhatsApp history: Any plans for lunch? I've put a potato in the air fryer, going to have it with carrots & beans : )

It started to rain. I expected him to come bounding in because he hated the rain, but no. In fact, I couldn't even see him out there. I headed to the hallway to grab my shoes and a brolly, happened to glance into the kitchen, and he was there, sitting by the fridge, drooling. His fur was a bit damp from the rain. He'd definitely been outside, I definitely hadn't let him back in, and yet there he was, with massive loops of drool dangling from his chops.

I genuinely don't know how it happened. It was as if I'd inadvertently summoned him by texting the word "carrots" to my partner.

Morrell, if I could teleport my golden retriever indoors a couple years before I started magic, I reckon there's still a chance for you to learn levitation and fireballs

 

[Morell]

I've heard tale of a qi gong master accidentally killing a hamster with a qi blast. There may yet be hope for your pyroblasts.

From the two I wore... I would prefer levitation...