As this is the first blog post for Chai Bunny, I thought I’d start off with one of the most important if not the most crucial ideas within the spiritual community which has to do with setting intentions and manifesting. In the physical realm, intention is everything and I feel that if you don't have a clear intention set out for all that you do in your spell work that your results will not be as potent or worse will simply not translate in the physical. For example, our oils use special ingredients and effective blends that are handcrafted with love and care, but they aren't truly at their most powerful until they reach your hands because it is you and your unique needs that gives our items power above all else. With that said let's dive into some of the basic ideas behind setting intentions, manifestations, and law of attraction.
The Basics: What is intent?
Intent at its most basic means to simply have a purpose. This purpose in terms of spell work could be a certain goal you wish to achieve through your practice whether that be more financial abundance or emotional healing. It’s best to think of setting an intention as designing a code so that a key function can be carried out. You're probably wondering why all of this is so important in the first place, and why we can't just skip to the more interesting parts of witchcraft and spirituality that involve working with deities or breaking generational curses…well none of that can happen unless you have a basic understanding and the confidence to focus clearly on your purposeful intent.
How to hone your intentions:
Though all of this may seem bizarrely basic, I promise you that learning or brushing up on how to cultivate strong intentions harms neither the beginner nor the adept. Setting intentions is not a one size fits all and there are numerous ways to hone your intentions, and neither is superior to the other. For those who are just starting to cultivate your practices however, I would recommend that you start off scripting or writing with a pen and a piece of paper what your spell's desired outcome looks like and I recommend that the more detailed you can get with this the better. I say this because writing is a very physical act which is helpful when trying to wrestle with intangible and flighty ideas that seem to get eaten away or shushed by the constant mind chatter. Other acts that hone intentions so that we may get surgical results through our spell work is to draw or paint which is especially useful for those of you who lean more towards the visual side of things. It is true when they say a picture is worth a thousand words and being able to draw a clear image regardless of skill is tremendously powerful especially when working with spells that alter or enhance one’s own physical appearance (more on that later). And lastly for those who wish neither to write or draw, there is meditation. Meditation can be a tricky skill to harness but when done correctly is a force to be reckoned with. Meditation is another one of those things in which the practice looks different for everyone, but universally meditation is an excellent way to align not just your physical body but also your spirit with your desired results. Essentially you are orienting yourself and merging with your chosen outcome through mantra or by focusing on a single word or image, however the hard part of this one is simply finding the time in a day to sit still and quiet ourselves especially in the fast-paced society we live in today.
How to practice living with Intent:
Know that all that you want is already yours. Easier said than done when life continues to throw us blinding curve balls at every stretch of the way, but it really is the truth. Everything you want is already within you untapped like a small kernel or a seed that is waiting to be watered. Most of magic or the part that we call magic where everything seems to happen by a snap of one’s own fingers is really just the act of unearthing something that was already there. It's a much different way to live when you gear your mindset towards the idea that achievements and the life you want is already yours, instead of something that you have to tirelessly strive for. Drive is an excellent quality, but drive out of desperation can breed doubt and doubt is something that takes power away from our practices, in magic we understand that as we work towards our goals that the desired outcome is already within us, and much like how Michelangelo said “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free” magic allows us to exhume the hidden potential of ourselves and thus free the restraints of the world around us to achieve our desired effects.
