There are many factors that can determine the success of a ritual. Firstly preparation. Ensure the ritual is well planned and that all scenarios are thought of, like the smoke incident. Then make the appropriate plans like having something nearby to extinguish flames etc. Secondly before the ritual is performed you have to be in the right mind set, a relaxation ritual or meditation helps. Israel Regardie wrote that the operator must be in a stage of heightend exitement. I can only agree with this as i have found the most effective rituals are performed in this state. It is quite hard to describe. It can be likened to an awesome feeling of joy and optimism, sure that the ritual will succeed. Every sense is engaged in the practice and focused towards its success. How to get into this state is another matter, some find the thought of the ritual enough, others find inspiration in the names and gods invoked. Experimentation is the only way as everyone is different. The next stage is to train the will and imagination. The will must be entirely focused on the task at hand. To train the will pick a habit, like sitting down and crossing your leg, or touching your face. Now mentally stop this habit, i.e. if you touch your face, smack yourself on the hand quite hard, this enforces the wrong doing in the subconcious. Eventually you will detect the thought pressure and be able to stop yourself before engaging in the action. In ritual you will use this technique to focus on the goal and not any thoughts that creep in. Now to the imagination. Visualization is one of the cornerstones of effective ritual. You need to be able to hold firmly in your mind a picture of what you want, with clarity so real it must feel like it is really there. Start with simply objects and engage all your senses. Picture a fruit. Any will do. Look at the colour, the texture, now feel with your mind, feel its weight, smell the fruit, then take a bite imagine the taste. When calling the quarters see and feel the elements, with fire for example, feel the heat of the flames and the hear the crackling of the fuel, see the flames dancing before you and know that they are there. Imaginaton consists of all these components, when you feel, see, hear and taste your metal imagery, then you will be getting somewhere. Another aspect of ritual that also plays an important part is the memorisation of invocations etc. No matter how long it is commit it to memory, learn it slowly like an actor learning a play. Learn a line a day then go back each day over what you have already learnt. Ritual cannot be effective if you have to fumble with pieces of paper and cheat sheets as it disrupts the mindset. Another tip is dont lust after results, when the ritual is done forget about it. Get into the mindset that your magic will succeed. Remember that the energies used in ritual are constantly at work, ritual is just a way of directing them. If a ritual takes fifteen minutes to do and you spend the next three days worrying it has failed then it will surely fail. You will in effect be using magic against yourself as you will be directing your thought processes against what you set out to do.

Daniel

At its most basic level, ritual involves manipulating and directing subtle natural energy. This energy flows and underlies everything and moves around and through everything all the time. There is a misconcieved idea that the higher levels, what some may call the heavenly realms are above us and the more negative hellish areas are below. This is not the case. All regions flow around us much in the same way as radio waves. To access these levels you have to tune in to their resonance. Now it is believed that all matter finds its origin at one source, the great unknowable divine, so abstract that it cannot be comprehended by the human mind. From its source much like a mountain stream, energy flows and becomes more dense as it descends through different levels of being, eventually resulting in physical manifestation, i.e. material earth. The goal of the magician when performing a spell for example, is to manipulate these energies at a level before manifestation. By doing this the magician forms his/her own patterns in this underlaying energy of what would like to be manifest in the physical world. This is done through visualization, powered by the intention and will of the magician. When imagining something it creates an imprint on the astral plane, which is the level of being closest to the world of material manifestation. We imagine things all the time, often so briefly that the imprint left on the astral plane fades just as quickly as it appears. In order to cause an imprint to register and become manifest, the magician is required to engage the image making faculty, the imagination. The image must be formulated as accurately as possible, paying so much attention to detail that it looks real, the magician must also engage the other senses so as to add to its realism. To power this thought form the magician uses sheer force of will. The want to see it appear as a physical reality. Without these factors engaged the spell will fail, either due to poor visualizaton not registering a successful imprint, lack of will to power it, or not being specific enough with ones intention, i.e. being to general in a money spell, saying you want more money is not enough, you have to be specific, like saying you want a payrise at work...... The mechanics of ritual are very complex, and there is not enough space here to go into any further specifics. There are many fine books on the subject, like Israel Regardies, The Tree of Life, Henry Cornelius Agrippas Three Books of Occult Philosophy and Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce. Most off these passing the 600 page barrier, to give you an idea of the depth of the subject. However i can testify to the effectiveness of the methods they present. I hope this helps.

Daniel