I’ve had many people come to me and ask me why their magick isnt working. Why their spells seem to backfire or never come to fruition. There are quite a few things that can hinder or block your magick and your power. I am not one to candy-coat anything for people who truly want to be powerful witches. So I’m going to give it to you straight. Here I’ll go into detail as to the patterns I see with people whose magick seems to fail time and time again. Some of this may seem harsh – you’ve been warned! Here’s the 5 common problems that block your magick and hold you back from coming into your true power.

6 Main Problems in Life that Block Your Magick & Power

1. The Victim Complex

Time and time again people come to me and want to learn paganism and witchcraft. Time and time again many of those people then wonder why their magick isn’t working. Yet in the same breath they’re complaining about their lives to me. Money issues. Depression. Obesity. Abusive relationships. The list goes on. When I give them my advice, they DON’T LISTEN but put the blame on everyone else in their lives. Their lives suck because of the people around them. Everything wrong in the world is done to them, not because of them. The Victim Complex will severely hinder your magick and it will STUNT your growth in life. Stop blaming everyone else for your issues and own up to your decisions and your own TRUE POWER. The gods and the ancestors don’t want to hear your bitching, they want to hear your powerful, vibrant voice. Make them proud.

2. An Unhealthy Lifestyle

Wonder why your spell didn’t work to help you lose weight? It’s because magick doesn’t fix unhealthy lifestyle choices. You can’t eat McDonald’s on a daily basis, sit on your butt all day long and expect to cast a spell and lose weight. NOW if you’re making healthy food choices, staying active, and working out regularly and still not losing weight. This is the time to cast weight loss spells. This is when the magick WILL work. Same for drug and alcohol abuse. You can’t load your body up with toxins and expect your soul and mind to be healthy and your magick to work. Because it won’t. Not to mention many gods require cleanliness to even be in their presence yet alone aid you in your magickal workings. Change your life, empower your magick.

3. Laziness

So many people come to witchcraft as a quick fix to their problems. “I need a spell for more money”. “A spell to lose weight”. “I need a spell to get rid of my ex.” Whatever the reason, they want a quick fix and to be able to sit back and watch the gods and spirits do the work for them. YET they won’t put any physical or mental effort into fixing their own problems. Laziness is a pandemic and will block your magick from working. Hard work is key – in life and in your craft. So you want a new job? Go out there and get one. Want to lose weight? Stop eating bad food and sitting around. Want to get rid of your ex? Throw him out and stop talking to him!

4. Self Doubt, Low Self Esteem and EGO

If you doubt yourself and your abilities, so will the gods and spirits. And your magick will fail. Low self esteem is the bane of a witch’s existence. Start loving yourself. Take time to heal yourself and understand why that hurt is there. Why is there doubt? Shadow work helps to clear out our biggest personal issues. Once we work through these dark, deep soul-blockages, we are freed up to do some powerful magick. Don’t skip the shadow work. Don’t skip the self love.

Conversely, EGO can prevent one from reaching their full potential on a magical level. Even though I believe ego is a good thing for most people, it can sometimes be someone’s downfall if it’s gotten too big. For example, the person who comes to me automatically saying they are “gifted” with “abilities”. Frequently these folks don’t want to take anyone’s advice because they think they have it all figured out. Yet they don’t understand why their spells are failing or why they’re being attacked spiritually. Let down some of that ego and be humble enough to listen to others’ advice. Then maybe your magick will grow and become more potent.

5. Toxic Relationships: A Common Problem that Blocks Your Magick

Maybe you’ve owned your self power and are learning witchcraft and paganism for all the right reasons but someone in your life is weighing you down. This person puts you down and doesn’t accept you for who you are. Maybe they even criticize or reprimand you for being interested in witchcraft and the like. It’s even possible you’re stuck in an abusive relationship. I say this – if someone in your life isn’t fueling your magick, they’re extinguishing it. They are toxic and will only poison you with their toxicity. Let them go and be free to grow and experience life like humans should.

6. Learning Blocks

When someone says they don’t know why their spells don’t manifest, it can often be because they aren’t trying to learn the why behind the spell-flop. If you do something and you fail at it, do you just give up? Or do you try to understand WHY you failed and then correct the issue? Sometimes folks don’t want to learn anything beyond what they already know. I have news, witchcraft is all about studying, learning, practicing, trial and error. With some grand moments of success and enlightenment mixed in. If you have a block up against learning anything new, this can also block your own personal power. And therefore prevent spells and rituals from resulting in what you want.

7. GRAND Expectations

I think sometimes it’s sad to see folks come to the craft thinking it will be the solution to all their problems. More specifically, they have grand expectations and a skewed perspective of what witchcraft actually is. I will say this only once – witchcraft doesn’t work like it does in the movies. You’re likely not going to wave a Harry Potter wand around, say a couple words, and have your bank account filled with a million bucks. It just doesn’t work that way. That is fantasy. Reality is a little different – you still have to work for what you achieve in life. With or without witchcraft.

Time to Do Some Shadow Work

If you read this article and realized you have one or more of these common problems that block your magick, it’s time to do some shadow work. There’s no shame in it. We don’t grow or come into our true power until we recognize every aspect of ourselves – both good and bad. This is what shadow work is for. To bring those dark shadows to light, to integrate your fears, dislikes, and aversions and heal. If you’d like to learn more about doing shadow work and coming into your own power, listen to our podcast on Shadow Work here: