Chapter Seven

Removing Obstacles
to Your Success

Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.

leonardo da vinci

I am about to open this chapter with some really eloquent verbiage. Here you are, bouncing along, all proud of your new prosperity goals and successes and the progress you have made, and then all of a sudden—whap! You get hit with some major expense you had not planned on. Were you cursed? Did some jealous Witch zap you with a hex because you were doing well and they were not? Did your spells stop working? Did you get complacent?

Maybe or maybe not. Sometimes—and here comes that aforementioned eloquent verbiage—shit just happens.

This can happen to anyone. A trip to the emergency room, a car repair, your normally sensible kid calling from college to announce they screwed up their student checking account and are broke… Unexpected bills hit, and we have to deal with them. Life loves to throw little challenges our way. The trick is not to let yourself get dragged down. You have to keep on working your magick and building those positive thoughtforms. Sure, setbacks and roadblocks can be upsetting, but take a breath, consider all of the resources at your disposal, and get to work!

For example, while I was finishing up this book, our heater gave up the ghost. Honestly, the heating and air conditioning system was over thirty years old, and we had planned to get a new system in the spring, after I got my royalty check. But you know what they say about the best- laid plans…

So on New Year’s Day, the heater up and died. The hubs tooled around with it and it sort of ran again, but the house was very cold. Who was I kidding? For years in the house it had been chilly every winter and blazing hot every summer. Our energy bills were very high, and we knew it was from the old furnace and a/c unit. We had realized that the old unit was inefficient but were hanging in there to put a large down payment and then finance the rest in April. Obviously that’s not the way it all worked out.

So on January 2 we called in a repairman and got the bad news. He showed us that there were burn marks and smoke stains inside the heater where the elements had caught fire and burnt out. That was sobering.

Also, our system was so old that the manufacturer had gone out of business and the company that made replacement parts was also closed. (Not surprising; during the last repair several years prior, it had taken weeks to find new parts.) So we sat down and looked at our options. We were able to finance it, and—holy gods—it was not much different from buying a car.

As we were considered an emergency situation, the very next morning they showed up with a team of guys and ripped out the old system and installed the new energy-efficient one. It took all day, so I built a fire in the woodstove, snuggled in with a friend’s book that I had promised to read and give a blurb for, and stayed out of the way. The crew was polite, neat, and worked quickly. They left eight hours later, dropping off cards and telling us to let them know if we had any questions at all, and they would come right back.

For the first week, we tried to get used to the fancy new digital thermostat and all of the noises the new system made. Wow, amazing what a new energy-efficient system can do! I started to turn down the temperature on the thermostat right away. What a novel idea: the heater comes on, and it gets warm. Ha.

Then I began to notice every time the heater’s compression unit kicked on, it was very loud outside and our lights in the house dimmed. After watching that for a week, I called the company back. They sent out a guy who double-checked everything—yes, we had plenty of power to run the unit; in fact, it pulled less power than the old unit. He then ordered a compression blanket, which is basically a muffler for the outdoor unit so when the compressor kicked on it would be quieter. That was covered by the install and so forth. They would be happy to add that free of charge, as a courtesy.

Then he suggested we add an extra item to the unit that would not be covered under the install. Designed for much larger units, it would take a bit of the pressure off the main power. However, because it was technically not needed, it would not be covered. And no, it was not cheap. I told him I’d think about it, and he promised that someone would be back to install the blanket thingy (technical term) within a few days.

A few days later, yet another guy from the company came in. I was knee-deep in writing but set it aside, as he was in and out of the house and my cat had decided to take a shine to him. Brie, my normally shy little calico, kept trying to climb in his lap while he worked and retested the new system.

My goodness, the guy did not stop talking. He cheerfully informed me he had been married four times and was getting ready for his fourth divorce and all about his kids, his cats, and so forth. Good god. Happy as a clam, he sat on the laundry room floor and talked. Nonstop. He too suggested that we add the extra switch thing to the unit, and I declined that offer. It was simply too expensive.

Back and forth, he went inside and outside, and once he came back in to get his tools and leave, he leaned against the wall and proceeded to cheerfully ask me questions about what it was like to be a writer.

Ten more minutes went by…I tried to steer him toward the door.

Twenty minutes went by…I announced that I had to get back to work and thanks for everything.

Then I pulled out my ace in the hole—the one thing guaranteed to have him scampering out of the house. When he stopped to ask what sort of books I wrote (my standard answer is “New Age nonfiction”), instead I said, with a calculated smile, “I write books on Witchcraft.”

There. Done. Now he would go.

His eyes lit up and—crap, did that backfire.

Ohmygod, he announced breathlessly. How cool. Could I tell him if his father who had passed away was okay in the afterlife? Amazed at having my “master plan” turn and bite me in the ass, I told him what his father’s first name was. I did not ask, I announced it. He looked at me wide-eyed, as I had nailed it and there was no way I could have known. So I answered him that yes, his father was fine.

And what about his current girlfriend? he inquired, all wide-eyed. In frustration, I heard myself ask who the woman was in his life whose name ended with an A, as she would be a good fit for him. Apparently his new girlfriend was Lisa or Linda—honestly, I can’t remember. Another ten minutes passed before I could get him out the front door and onto the porch, where he continued to cheerfully chatter.

Now, he never made me uncomfortable. I was just trying to be polite and he was so damn cheerful it was hard to get angry, but I was frustrated and teetering toward annoyance. Finally my phone rang. I picked it up and told him it was my editor (it was a friend), he waved, and finally, he left.

A few minutes later, he was outside banging around on the outdoor unit. Well, hell. What was he doing now? At that point I was very tempted to call his company and complain about his behavior, when he came back to the front door and announced that he had gone ahead and installed the extra expensive switch anyway and that he wouldn’t charge us for it.

He came inside, tested it out, and everything worked out fine. No more dimming lights. So once again I ushered him to the door…ten more minutes passed. This guy made me look shy and retiring, I have to say. And finally he left for good.

The point of the story? I am so glad you asked. I got the extra switch thingy for free. I saved about three hundred dollars because I was pleasant, listened, reassured him that his father was okay in the afterlife, and confirmed that his new girlfriend was a wonderful lady. So magick happened and I did not even plan it. Nice.

My husband, who works the night shift, had slept through the repairman’s visit. When he woke up later that afternoon, he laughed until he cried when I told him about the chatty repairman.

“You pulled out both the I am a Witch card and yanked stuff out of his head, and that still didn’t scare him into leaving?”

“No,” I said in disgust. “It only made him more talkative.”

My husband chuckled, said it was handy to have a Witch for a wife, and went to check for himself how the heater worked with the new switch.

As for myself, I had a glass of wine at three in the afternoon and felt decadent. Then after my husband left for work, I finally was able to get back to my writing.

So see, my life isn’t perfect either. I do not live in a mansion on a hill, more like a ranch-style house in the ’burbs. Anyway, I roll with the challenges life throws at me. I use magick to smooth the way when necessary and do the best I can.

And so should you.

Personal Magickal Energy: Troubleshooting Prosperity Spells

Working hard and working smart sometimes can be two different things.

byron dorgan

If you seem to be encountering resistance to the prosperity spells you cast, then you need to look at this from a whole new perspective. It may be time to do some magickal troubleshooting and diagnose where the problem began and how best to unravel it. Remember that the speed and style in which your prosperity magick unfolds is the direct result of your intention and your emotional focus at the time you cast that spell.

This all comes together to equal the amount of what I call Personal Magickal Energy, or PME for short. This PME total represents the amount of thought, effort, style, and power that you put into the stalled prosperity spell when you first cast it. If you add those factors all up, you would give yourself a PME number. Case in point: try to rate that stalled prosperity spell’s performance on a scale from one to ten. This is simple to do and it can be very, very illuminating as to why your spellwork stalled or was blocked from a successful manifestation.

Here is an example. We will say that a ten on the PME scale represents your magickal best, as in absolute perfection. You brought your A game and pulled out all the stops. Everything was the best you could possibly make it—as in the spell’s astrological timing, your magickal accoutrements, a correct emotional state, keeping the Hermetic principles in mind, and so forth.

Or were you honestly more at the low end of the PME scale, as in a one, meaning that you just went through the motions? Did you half-ass the magick? I know that sounds a little irreverent, but seriously…did you? If you just rattled off a spell you found in some book and maybe lit a green candle for effect, with no thought of correct emotional states, astrological timing, and so forth…well, that’s going to rate as a very low Personal Magickal Energy number. Here is something vitally important for you to wrap your mind around: a low energetic effort equals a low magickal reward.

Keeping all this in mind, now try to figure out where you were on that energetic scale in regards to that stalled prosperity spell, and then ascribe it an honest number on that PME scale from one to ten. The higher the number, the better you believe your magickal performance and energy sent out to manifest a change was.

So, for the sake of argument, we will say that you gave yourself a five on the PME scale. You did the best you could and worked in a waxing moon phase for increase. But maybe that was on a Saturday, come to think of it…Saturdays are best for binding, banishing, and minimizing negativity. Well, damn. Maybe that prosperity spell wasn’t as potent or powerful as you’d first imagined it to be…

Now consider how much energetic resistance from the mundane world you may have been working against. Give that energetic resistance a number from one to ten as well. Here are a few more real-life examples to give you a clearer idea of how to rate the resistance you have encountered.

Was all hell breaking loose? If collection agencies are calling or you just got laid off, that would be a ten. Let’s say your hours got cut or they stopped overtime that you counted on to pay the bills; then I’d put that energetic resistance at around a seven. You’ve still got a job but things aren’t looking so rosy.

On the other hand, if things were just getting tight with the budget or an unexpected bill hit and you figured you’d better start working the prosperity magick before things got too grim, then I’d give that situation about a four. Now subtract that energetic resistance number from your PME score, and look at the total number. There may be your problem.

So let’s say you rated your spell’s PME at a five, meaning you did the best you could but honestly there could have been some improvement. The energetic resistance was that they cut your hours at work, which would rate a seven. So that gives you a whopping total of a negative two.

Well, hello there. You just found your problem. There is more resistance to your spell than you invested energetically.

Getting your hours cut at work is serious, and a spell that you honestly rate at a five on the PME scale is not going to be of much assistance. Just like many things in our world, you do get out of your magick whatever you put into it.

Also, this would be the perfect opportunity to point out that being angry about your current financial situation, panicking, or just feeling hopeless can and will smother any type of positive spellwork that you do. Give yourself some time to plot and plan your prosperity magick for the best possible results—maybe even take a day or two to make sure you are in a correct energetic state. Being too impatient to work this type of magick correctly or just tossing magick around because you panicked may cause unexpected and even chaotic results.

So let’s take a look at some common magickal snafus or mistakes that can affect your Personal Magickal Energy and the correct manifestation of your prosperity magick.

Solving Common Magickal Snafus

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.

albert einstein

Error, mistake, blunder, slip-up, gaffe, screw-up, bungle, mishap…no matter what you call it, a magickal snafu is a chance to learn and improve. This as an opportunity for a magickal epiphany. The best way to learn something is to look at your past magickal actions and see if there is room for improvement. We all make mistakes with our magick, and the difference between an advanced—or, as I prefer to call them, adept—practitioner is that they learn from their past errors, and then grow and advance.

Adept practitioners embrace any opportunity for the chance to improve. This is not where you should feel bad about your spellcasting performance; this is where you troubleshoot and learn so you can improve. I am not trying to tear you down. I want to empower you and teach you something new. Put your game face on. Be confident and bold! Look at this as a chance to gather more knowledge and information.

• The first thing I would double-check would be to see if Mercury was retrograde when you cast your spell. That can cause many problems with how your prosperity spell ultimately manifests. Refer to chapter 6 for more information, and take another look at the Mercury Dime Spell for Mercury Retrograde in chapter 6.
• Did you work with the Hermetic principles and law of attraction or against them? Not sure? Well, there’s no time like the present. Take another look at those principles and the LOA in chapter 1 and see how you can correctly apply them to your next prosperity spell. You need to learn that information cold.
• How did you word your spell exactly? Did you write down your spell verse or did you just off-the-cuff ask for something nonspecific? Be careful what you ask for. Being specific and cautious with both what and how you say your spells during the performance of magick is vitally important. Take another look at chapter 3 and see what you can improve when it comes to the mechanics of your spellwork.
• Last but not least, what sort of emotional state were you in when you cast? I have been harping on that point for a good reason. Your personal magickal energy should always be optimistic and focused on positive abundance and creating more wealth. It should not be centered on money worries or fears of lack and poverty. Be aware of and responsible for what you create with your energetic thoughtforms.

The list below is an at-a-glance correspondence chart of the most opportune correspondences for your prosperity magick.

Correspondences for Prosperity Magick

Most Opportune Moon Phase: waxing moon (new to full)

Most Opportune Associated Planets: sun, Jupiter

Most Opportune Days of the Week: Sunday (sun’s day) for success, Thursday (Jupiter’s day) for prosperity and abundance

Most Opportune Colors for Prosperity Magick: gold (for the sun and success), green (for all general prosperity work), royal blue or purple (Jupiter’s colors)

Complementary Tarot Cards: the Magician, the Emperor, the Wheel of the Year/Wheel of Fortune, the Sun, Ace of Pentacles, and also the Nine and Ten of Pentacles; work with these as props in spells for good luck, increase, abundance, a prosperous family, and a happy home

Complementary Accoutrements: golden magnetic sand, lodestones

Complementary Crystals: aventurine, bloodstone, chrysoprase, citrine, emerald, jade, tourmaline, lepidolite, malachite, moss agate, rhodochrosite, tiger’s-eye, turquoise

Complementary Herbs: bay, cinquefoil, clover, dandelion, High John the Conqueror root, hollyhock, honeysuckle, mint, money plant, oak, pine, shamrock, sunflower

Complementary Deities: Abuntania, Lakshmi, Yemaya, Juno Moneta, Fortuna, Tyche, Ganesha

Ganesha:
The Remover of Obstacles

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent.

dr. seuss

Ganesha, or Ganesh, is the pot-bellied, much-beloved elephant-headed Hindu god known as the remover of obstacles. Associated with success and prosperity, he is a popular god in the Hindu pantheon. Ganesha is traditionally a very popular deity with merchants and traders, and he is recognizable to just about everyone, which explains why he is thought to be the god for every man.

He is also a destroyer of evil as well as a god of education, scholarships, wisdom, and a happy home life. As was mentioned previously, he is associated with Lakshmi. It is said that wherever there is success and prosperity, there is Ganesha. Ganesha is all loving, and anyone may successfully work with him. If you are facing obstacles, whether spiritual or material, Ganesha is happy to help. This elephant-headed deity personifies the primal sound of om. His large elephant ears mean he is always ready to listen to your prayers and requests.

In classic iconography, Ganesha is portrayed with four arms and one tusk. Legend says he broke off one of his tusks to write an important Indian epic. There is also a mouse at his feet. The mouse is considered to be his “vehicle,” as the mouse is quick and able to get into the tiniest of places—just like Ganesha’s magick.

If you are facing spiritual or material obstacles, need help obtaining a scholarship or grant (for yourself or a child), or applying for school or a job, then Ganesha is the deity to call upon.

As I worked on this chapter, my daughter was applying to graduate schools, as she planned to get her master’s degree in museum sciences. While she filled out all of the applications to the various universities, she commented that she could use a little luck or some divine intervention. I mentioned what I was working on, and she liked that idea. So I decided to test this out and worked the following spell to Ganesha.

A week later, her first choice for graduate school sent her a letter; she was not accepted to the program, and she was devastated. I will admit, I wondered about that. Instinctively I felt that the magick was still in play, so I kept quiet and supported her as she adjusted her plans and then thought about other options. Three days after her disappointment, I got a phone call from her in the late afternoon.

“Mom…,” she began in a very shaky voice.

“Are you hurt?” I interrupted. I could tell she was upset, and I knew she was on her way home from work, so I imagined a car accident.

“I’m fine,” she said softly, her voice still shaking.

“What’s happened?” I asked, still very concerned.

“I got accepted into graduate school,” she said, her voice wobbling. Then she proceeded to tell me it was closer to home than the other university she had applied to and was much more affordable.

“That’s fantastic!” I congratulated her.

“I already spoke to the dean of my department. Mom, I am really going!” she said excitedly.

At the moment, she is knee-deep in filling out paperwork and getting her finances and loans in order. After looking at the second university, I actually think it will be a better fit for her. Of course, her father and I, and her boyfriend, all like that it’s only about four hours away. Sometimes things do work better than expected when you sit back and let the magick manifest. So thanks, Ganesha. Big guy, you came through in a spectacular fashion!

For best results, spells requesting Ganesha’s assistance are best worked in the waxing moon phase (for increase).

Removing Obstacles with Ganesha Spell

Here is a pretty spell that calls on Ganesha. You will notice that it allows for some personalization in the fifth line.

Timing: waxing moon phase

Day of the Week: Thursday (for general prosperity), Wednesday (best for communication magick and for spells involving scholarships, grants, or to help with applications to a university)

Supplies and Directions: Traditionally, fresh red flowers and sweets called ladoo are left as offerings to him. A little cookie or a wrapped hard candy in yellow or red would work out nicely too. Suggested candle colors for Ganesha are red and yellow. Any sweet-smelling incense would be a lovely addition. For an affordable fresh flower option, go to the local florist and pick up a few stems of red mini carnations. These little flowers smell terrific and last a long time.

I also suggest printing out a little picture of Ganesha and adding it to your workspace. You could glue the image onto a plain red or yellow jar candle if you like. If you prefer to just have the picture sitting there, then put it in a central place of honor.

Take a few moments and set this spell up respectfully. Set up your altar as nicely as you can, arranging the work area with love and care. Be sure to put yourself in the proper mood and energetic place. Remember that PME information from earlier and act accordingly and with intention.

When you are ready to begin, empower and bless your red and yellow spell candles to Ganesha with the following verse:

As I hold these spell candles in my hands

They represent the help of the god of every man.

Now brightly burn with purpose both strong and true

Obstacles will be removed from what I do.

After the candles have been empowered, you may light them. If you are adding incense, then get that working as well.

Reverently arrange the fresh flowers and the sweets. When you are ready, say the following verse:

OM Ganesha, OM Ganesha, OM Ganesha

The loving elephant-headed god of every man.

Hear my heartfelt request for your assistance

I ask that you gently remove any obstacle that blocks my success.

Make the path to [prosperity/the scholarship/the grant] clear for me

I offer you these flowers and sweets with thanks, respect, and love.

By the elements of earth, air, fire, and water

Grant the requests of your sons and daughters.

Allow the candles to burn in a safe place until they go out on their own. Place the fresh flowers in a vase and keep them in a prominent place. Place the cookie and (unwrapped) candy outdoors in the garden, and allow nature to reclaim them. When the flowers fade, add them to your yard waste to be recycled or to your compost pile.

May Ganesha clear the way for you with the most wondrous of success!

The Tower card from Witches Tarot

The Tower Card Spell to Remove Blocks and Energetic Resistance

Here is a dramatic spell that works with the energies of the waning moon and the Tower card from your tarot deck. This time we work with the waning moon because we want obstacles and resistance to your previous prosperity work to decrease, wane, and disappear. This is the magick of working during the waning moon phase.

In my Witches Tarot deck, the Tower card shows stormy, dark skies surrounding a tower that sits high on a cliff. Lightning snakes down from storm clouds and strikes the tower, knocking a crown off the top. Within the tower a fire burns, which cleanses and transforms. Two figures fall from the tower—they are tumbling out headfirst. This illustrates that this event is completely out of their control.

The tower depicted in this major arcana card symbolizes our ambitions. The ruby-studded crown represents the ego; in magickal traditions, rubies are used to intensify awareness. The lightning bolt in this scene represents that there is now a flash of insight; the bright light of truth will illuminate any questionable situation. Blocks are being removed and negative energy is finally being broken through. Transformation is occurring; reevaluation is necessary at this time.

When the card turns up in a reading, it means that there will be a shocking revelation or an event that forever changes the way you see yourself and the people around you. This is not necessarily a negative thing. Now that all of that built-up pressure has been released from the tower, the fire inside will both cleanse and transform it. What spiritual blocks or obstacles you once faced are now removed. What you learn will end up being helpful in the long run.

Using the Tower card’s powerful imagery in your spellwork reinforces that the obstacles you face and resistance you are working against will be eliminated. Not only will they be removed, they also will be transformed into something more positive.

Timing

• Work this particular tarot spell during the waning moon (from the day after the full moon until the night before the new moon).
• Work this spell at sunset on a Saturday (Saturn’s day). This is very important. Check your astrological calendar and time it correctly. Put some effort into this and raise up that PME score! This specific lunar phase, day of the week, and time of day will help to banish those obstacles and remove resistance. Consider that this is the close of the week and the end of the daylight hours; that is a powerful combination for removing obstacles and problems.

Supplies and Directions

• a black candle (to remove obstacles)—votive or taper—and a coordinating candleholder
• the Tower card from your tarot deck
• a lighter or matches
• a safe, flat work surface where the candle can safely burn until it goes out on its own

Be sure to put yourself in the proper mood and energetic place. Remember that PME information from earlier, and act accordingly and with intention.

Timing is crucial for this spell. Lay out the card in the center of your altar or work space. Arrange the black candle in its holder just behind the card. Place your hands on either side of the candle in the holder, and empower it with the following lines:

As I surround this black spell candle with my hands

I empower it to send magick across the land.

Now burn with purpose both bright and true

May I be blessed in all that I do.

Take a few moments and look carefully at the imagery in the Tower card. Visualize any spiritual obstacles or spell resistance that you may have faced now being safely nullified and removed. Keep your thoughtforms both positive and confident.

Light the candle and repeat the following spell verse:

Like a bolt of lightning straight out of a storm’s heart

Any resistance to my work must now depart.

All obstacles are removed, the way forward is now clear

Prosperity comes freely to me from both far and near.

For the good of all, with harm to none

By tarot’s magick, this spell is done!

Leave the card in place for as long as the candle burns, making sure to keep an eye on the candle. Then, when the candle is spent, return the card to your tarot deck. Blessed be.

Tough Times Call for Creative Magick

Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.

orison swett marden

When obstacles happen and put roadblocks in the path of your success or you encounter resistance to your cast spells, you need to hang tough and keep working. The last two spells in this chapter will help you do just that! Come on, pull yourself up by your witchy black bootlaces. No moping is allowed. Get back up, dust your magickal self off, and start working your improved mojo all over again—then ask yourself what you learned from this challenge.

Life hands you lessons constantly, and no one likes to have their plans and goals sidelined. As Witches and magicians, sometimes we assume that this sort of issue won’t happen to us because, well…we work magick, damn it. Shouldn’t we be immune or something?

But no matter who you are—be it Witch or mundane—when it comes to life, we all tend to enjoy the surprises we want. The surprises we don’t enjoy are the ones we consider problems.

The best way to climb above this is to use your sense of humor. Make the best of the situation, and think outside of the box. Do some spell-craft troubleshooting. Correct mistakes you have made and work your new and improved spells with enthusiasm and verve!

As a magickal practitioner, you have resources and options other folks would not even dream of. If you find yourself in a tough financial spot, then take a moment and listen to your own intuition. Refer to the troubleshooting information in this chapter, and also go back and study those Hermetic laws at the beginning of the book. They are right at the beginning for an important reason: those principles are your foundation, and together we have built a strong and powerful magickal base.

Your magick will hold you. Don’t give up!

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