inspiring goodness from turahbird
I often use the phrase “set your intention” and those signed up for my email newsletter just got a nice chunk of information on why setting your intention is so critical whenever you are doing any type of magical, ceremonial, or ritual work. Setting your intention is also important in life, by the way. So…just how do you go about setting your intention? What do I mean by that? First, a definition: Your intention is quite simply the outcome you wish to achieve.
I am a verbal person so for me setting my intention usually begins with writing. I write down what I want to accomplish generally, and then I go through and consider the specific individual steps that need to happen in order for my petition to be realized. Next I create a visual board-either physically or now on pinterest that allows me to hone in visually on what my goal is and in what attitude I take on the work at hand. In order to help out those who are new or who need a bit of a break down of this process I created the following 5 very easy to follow steps:
1.) Define your goal generally. Do you need more money? More love? A better job where you are happy? You may write a sentence or an entire essay here-allow your mind to be general and take a sky’s the limit view on what you want to bring into your life.
2.) Drill it down. Look at your general petition and get more specific. Do you want more money from your current job or do you want a different (and higher paying) job all together? Do you want the ex boyfriend to return, or do you want him to return in a month, move back in with you, share the rent, and not see any other women? This is the time to include names, dates, and time frames in your request. Don’t worry about length-you will refine in the next step.
3.) Create a 1-2 sentence petition. Say that in the first step I say I want more money, I want to feel prosperous every day, I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck any more, and of the money I have I want to save more and spend less.
In the second step I add that I want to have enough money for all of my bills and for fun stuff too by the end of the summer-without penny pinching or stress. I like my job and my officemates but I would like to get the promotion and pay raise that is being offered in July with a final decision made around August 15th. I have put in my application for it and I got George, one of my supervisors to give me a good recommendation.
My refined petition may look something like this:
By August 30th I will have the promotion at ABC company and the subsequent pay raise. Carla, the deciding supervisor will be persuaded by my good work and the letter George wrote on my behalf. My co-workers will all speak highly of my accomplishments. The pay raise will be substantial allowing me to take care of all of my bills, fun stuff, and have money in the bank left over. Amen.
4.) Gut Check-consider how you feel once you have refined your petition. Are you clear minded on what you are pursuing or does it still feel foggy. Including names, dates, and specific pieces of information help cut through the fog and give you specifics to focus on. If after adding in specifics you will do not feel clear-go back to step one and repeat the process. This is also the time to take your emotions into account. If you are working to get someone to pay you money that is long overdue there may be anger and righteous feeling to compel them to fork it over-that is fine-use that. Being clear and setting your intention does NOT mean always being calm-if your situation creates fiery anger or deep feelings of lust allows those sensations to work for you and your magical work.
5.) Get Sensual. For some of us the altar we create is our visual stimulation-in other cases we may need to collage or create a specific symbol that we can focus on daily to re-establish our intention and the goal we wish to achieve. Some of us may respond better to tactile stimulation-in that case we would work with a talisman, crystal, or special object that is designated to represent our specific intention.
So…how do YOU set your intention? Let me know in the comments below-happy ritual crafting!
When I was a kid, I learned how to sew on a machine that only went backwards. It was fine, it got the job done, but it wasn’t as good as it is when you have a properly working machine. When I finally got a new machine, I was blown away by how quick and easy it was to use!
I am having similar feelings about using your method to write petitions versus my old style. I had no idea you could be so specific – and timeframes? Psh, I never put a timeframe before!
Thank you for sharing. I feel a lot more empowered!