Spells: fire and forget versus ongoing

 

 There are two major approaches that one can take when casting a spell:  fire and forget versus ongoing.  With fire and forget, you do the spell, and then you walk away, and you let the spell work without further influence (and often thought) from you.  With an ongoing spell, you keep coming back to it, feeding it your attention and energy.  Both styles have strengths and weaknesses, and you can use both at different times and for different purposes.

Many people have a preferred method for casting their spells, and I feel like this is often dependent on how you learned to cast.  You may have seen mostly ongoing spells described in books, things that spread the spellwork out over days (or more!), and you might love the way that you can devote more time to a working, but don't have to do it all at once.  Or, maybe you like being able to build up a lot of energy, pour it into something, and then walk away, trusting that your will be done.

 

Let's talk about ongoing magic for a bit.  With this type of magic, timing is often important, and you may need to do different things at different points in time.  This may mean spreading out your spellwork over the course of a full moon cycle, doing different actions at different phases.  It might mean preparing a candle, and then lighting it for a specified time every day for a week.  It might mean creating the initial spell, and then returning to it every month to recharge it.

 

The biggest benefit of an ongoing spell is that it is spread out over time.  This allows you to build up to bigger energy without having to handle it all at once.  It maintains a more constant flow of energy, and gives you the opportunity to adjust as you go (if you feel things aren't moving in the way you want them to). 

The biggest downside is that these types of spells need the continued attention.  You have to devote yourself to the same working over many days, and if you miss a day you may feel like you need to start over or at least make up time.  It's a commitment to the spell work, and if you can't meet that commitment you may feel like you can't do this type of work.

On the other hand, fire and forget spells can feel more spontaneous.  You can gather up your stuff, and do the thing, and then you move on.  No big buildup, no need to continue to dedicate time to it, just one and done.  This can be especially appealing to people who may not know if they can maintain an ongoing spell, or who's life just doesn't work well with that level of regular practice.

But fire and forget spells can require more upfront energy (because you are doing it all in one go instead of spreading it out), and it may be hard for you to forget the work (some people feel like continued thought on the spell muddies it, as you may start unintentionally become unfocused in your intentions).  Also, many people just don't like the idea of deliberately forgetting their spell work, and not being able to check in and see how your work is progressing can feel frustrating.

For me personally, I think they both fulfill different roles in my practice.  I like ongoing spells for things like protection, stuff that is, by it's nature, ongoing.  I find that being able to set up the spell and then just boost it from time to time works very well.  I tend to go for fire and forget for more temporary things, like finding a job, where you may want to do it again in the future, but it will be a separate working. 

I also factor in that, for my brain, fire and forget is a natural thing.  It's much harder for me to remember to refresh (or come back to) ongoing spells, especially if there are large time gaps.  Plus, I find it daunting to have too many ongoing things at the same time, it feels like I have to juggle and remember too much, like I am spread too thin.

Whether you are just starting out or have walked this path for many years already, it's always good to try different ways.  If you normally work with fire and forget spells, it can be very rewarding to devote yourself to an ongoing spell, and to see your continued work bearing fruit.  But if you mostly do ongoing spells, mixing in a few fire and forget spells can feel spontaneous and fun.  You may find, as I did, that you like doing both, but that each method works better for you for specific things.  So give both ways a try, and see how you feel about the way you approach spell crafting.