What does success mean to you? Some people consider themselves successful if they reach the highest ranks of their profession; others see money as a marker of success. In this celebrity-oriented society, fame is often the benchmark of success. In a broader sense, however, success means deriving fulfillment, purpose, and joy from the work you do. According to author Christopher Morley, “There is only one success — to be able to spend your life in your own way.”
Setting Goals and Intentions
Setting goals is intrinsic to professional achievement. Just as travelers plot a route, companies design business plans to guide them where they intend to go. Without a roadmap of this sort, you can easily get sidetracked or derailed. Some business people recommend establishing a five-year plan, while others opt for longer or shorter terms and update their plans periodically. Many experts suggest that entrepreneurs at least create a mission statement, which describes the business’s vision.
Your professional life is intimately connected with your beliefs about self-worth, prosperity, and success. If you feel unworthy, this will be reflected in your income and in your work situation. If, on the other hand, you believe you’re valuable and deserving — of a raise, a promotion, of better working conditions — your self-image will be reflected in your outer-world image.
Given what you already know about magic, you can probably see the value of setting a goal, an end result you wish to achieve. Once you’ve created an image of your goal, you can infuse it with desire and willpower in order to propel your dream toward manifestation. Your goals don’t have to be etched in stone, but it’s important to at least have a clear view of what you would like to accomplish professionally. As in all areas of your life, the more distinct and vivid you can make your images of career success, the more likely they are to materialize in the way you desire.
Long-Term and Short-Term Goals
Some people sit down every New Year’s Eve and make a list of their goals for the coming year. They review their goals quarterly, to get some sense of how far they have come, and revise their goals as necessary. You, too, may benefit from setting a timetable for success and reviewing it periodically.
If you like, you can establish an overall, long-term objective and then break it down into a number of short-term goals or steps that lead to the final destination. Understandably, situations will arise that affect your progress and perhaps even take you in a different direction altogether. Allow flexibility in your plan for the unexpected. Adjust your plan as necessary.
Write It Down
Don’t just keep your goals in your head. Instead, write them down in a journal or loose-leaf binder. Writing your goals is the first step toward bringing them into the material world. The very act of putting words on paper takes them out of the realm of imagination and makes them more tangible.
State your objectives in the form of affirmations. Your affirmations might be all-encompassing and general, such as “I now have a job that’s perfect for me,” or they may be very precise, such as “I am now the president of [company name].” Make a list that includes at least three and not more than ten goals. As soon as you’ve accomplished one objective, replace it with another.
Read through your affirmations daily, when you first wake up and just before going to sleep at night. Repetition impresses your goals on your subconscious and directs it to carry out your wishes.
Power Symbols in Business
In business, as in other areas of life, symbols serve as touchstones and embodiments of your intentions. Logos are particularly important symbols in business. A good logo presents important information about a company at a glance, in a way that words can’t. When you see a logo, you understand immediately what that company stands for, even if you don’t know what products it makes.
An object is merely an object until it has, for lack of a better word, soul. That soul comes from the person who owns it, touches it, and takes care of it and who, in doing so, imbues that object with the uniqueness of the individual he or she is. Then it becomes a power object.
Take, for example, the typewriter Thomas Wolfe used to write his masterpieces. On the surface, the machine looks tired and worn out, but because Wolfe’s fingers pecked at those keys, because that typewriter materialized his creativity, it has become an object of utter power. The same is true of the Spirit of St. Louis hanging from the ceiling of the Air and Space Museum. It looks like a fascinating antique, but as soon as you learn it was the plane Charles Lindbergh flew when he crossed the Atlantic, it becomes a symbol of humanity overcoming physical limits to achieve a dream. That, in a sense, is alchemy: transforming a mundane object into a magical tool that makes imagination manifest.
Creating Your Own Power Symbols
Objects absorb and reflect energy, just by virtue of being in the same space inhabited by a certain person. If you’re passionate about a particular thing, your energy clings to that inert object and enlivens it. This happens without any effort on your part. Psychics can read your past, present, and future by holding an object you’ve worn because it has absorbed your energy. When you consciously imbue an object with your passion and intent, the object becomes extremely powerful. Magicians do this with ritual tools, talismans and amulets, and other objects.
A paintbrush is an easily recognizable symbol for an artist. A chef instantly identifies with a tall white hat. A private investigator might see a magnifying glass or a Sherlock Holmes — style pipe as a sign of his profession. What symbols do you associate with your career? Select one that resonates with you and use it in your spells for career success.
Look around your work area. What do you see? With what objects have you surrounded yourself? What do they mean to you? How did they come to you? Do the objects have stories attached to them? Mementos of pleasant experiences, trophies you’ve won, and family heirlooms that connect you to your personal history are all individual symbols with which you identify. They link you to your own power.
Choose one or two objects that represent your successes. Display these in a place where you’ll see them often: your desk, your altar, or your living room. Remember, these objects have been selected for a very specific purpose, not just for decoration. Whenever you want to bolster your sense of success or need some reassurance before facing a career challenge, take a few moments to gaze at these power objects. Touch them and let them remind you of your personal power.
Charms for Career Success
A success charm is similar to a shaman’s medicine bundle. The outer container should be made of cotton or silk, in a color that represents your intention. If you’re making it for personal power, use a purple pouch with a drawstring closure. If money is your object, use gold or silver. You could choose a color that connects to the chakra you use most frequently in your work. If you do a lot of talking in your job, blue might be the best color for the bag because blue represents the throat chakra, the center of your self-expression.
“Hidden alliances work to move you into your authentic vocation as soon as you begin to commit to it.” — Rick Jarow, Creating the Work You Love
The bundle should be small enough to carry with you. Keep the number of objects you include in your bag to a minimum; select only items that symbolize something significant and important to you. A bundle can also contain slips of paper on which you’ve written your desires or goals. If you do a lot of business traveling, for instance, you may want to make a charm that relates specifically to travel. This charm would ensure safe, smooth travel — no canceled flights, no long waits in airport lobbies, no lost bags.
Periodically, you might wish to update the items in your charm bag. Because your charm works its magic on particular projects or issues, consider replacing the items that no longer correlate with your intentions with new power objects. Be imaginative when designing your success charms and have fun making them.
Timing Success Spells
Like other spells, the ones you do for career success will be more powerful if you do them at the right time. In magic, as in other areas of life, timing counts. In most cases, you’ll get better results if you do spells for business and career success while the moon is waxing. However, if your goal is to eliminate an obstacle or condition that’s blocking your success, or you want to scale down your work-related responsibilities, do a spell during the waning moon.
Capricorn is the zodiac sign of business, goals, and public image. Therefore, an ideal time to do spells for career success is while the moon and/or the sun is in Capricorn. Virgo is connected with work, work relationships, and work-related health matters, so if your intention involves these things, do a spell when the sun and/or moon is in Virgo.
The best days of the week for doing success spells are Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, which are the days ruled by Jupiter, Saturn, and the sun, respectively. These heavenly bodies govern expansion, business, travel, public image, status, ambition, self-image, and leadership ability. The best day for doing each of the spells in this chapter is indicated at the end of the spell.
If you know astrology or can consult with an astrologer, look for periods when transiting or progressed Venus, Jupiter, or the sun influences your birth chart in a positive way. In some cases, transiting or progressed Saturn can also produce career opportunities, especially those you’ve worked hard to obtain or that involve slow, steady development over a period of time.
Retrograde Mercury
About four times a year, for approximately three weeks at a time, the planet Mercury goes retrograde. This means that from Earth, it appears as if Mercury is traveling backward in its orbit around the sun. Mercury rules communication, the mind, written documents, communications equipment (such as computers and phones), and short-distance travel.
Astrologers usually recommend that you avoid buying computers, telephones, or cars while Mercury is retrograde. They also warn against signing contracts, making investments, or launching a new business venture at this time because you may overlook important details or encounter delays.
When the planet turns retrograde, you’re more likely than usual to run into problems in these areas. Computers break down, checks get lost in the mail, and mental errors occur. Many people have trouble communicating clearly. Considering that the mind is the most important part of magic, this obviously isn’t a good time to do business spells either. Check an ephemeris to see when Mercury is retrograde, and plan accordingly.
Optimal Times for Setting Goals
Samhain (Halloween) is the pagan New Year. Therefore, this is an ideal time to make your New Year’s resolutions and set goals for the coming year. The Winter Solstice, when the sun enters Capricorn, is another optimal date for establishing goals and plans. On this day, the sun is at its lowest point in the sky and daylight hours are shorter than at any other time of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere). The goals you set now will develop and come to fruition as the sun’s light grows stronger.
