I recently posted about the reluctance to do magic for yourself. I got some responses which made me do some thinking and this post is a culmination of those thoughts. One of the responses was that the person was concerned about the possible harm that could occur. She needed to be absolutely sure she wouldn't harm someone if she chose to do magic for herself. Another response was the concern that doing magic to get a particular result might cause the person to miss out on a better opportunity. It was better to let the universe bring whatever opportunities would come her way.
These are valid comments to make. But at the same time I wonder if perhaps they create too much hesitation. If we wait for opportunity to come knocking, if we hold back from doing something because of potential consequences, what are we letting slip through our fingers? Practical magical involves making practical choices and taking risks. It recognizes that if you really want something and you think magic is necessary you do what it takes to make it happen.
I'll admit I'm not the most ethical magician out there. I figure if I'm doing magic for a practical result it may be a result that only favors me. While it may not harm someone in an obvious way, there's a chance it could still have an effect. For example if I do magic to get a job, and I get the job I have used magic in my favor and harmed all the other people applying for that job. It's not intentional harm per se, but it could be considered harm. I recognize that and if I choose to do magic I have to evaluate if choosing to do magic to provide a favorable outcome is really worth doing.
And its true that if you use magic to achieve a specific outcome that you could miss out on other opportunities. However it's also possible to set yourself up with the opportunities you really want. For example, I created an entity that specifically looks for opportunities and notifies me of them. I don't miss out on the opportunities because I am made aware of them.
With practical magic there is always some risk involved. But the same is true with living life. Even if you don't do magic when applying for a job, the very act of applying for the job and going to an interview and getting that job could still be considered harmful to the people applying for the job. We can choose to paralyze ourselves out of fear that something could happen, or we can take a risk and do it and deal with the consequences as they come up.
As someone who has done and continues to do a fair amount of practical magic I'm comfortable with doing it for the purposes of achieving a specific result. I recognize I could be closing one door, while opening another, but that's why I'm doing magic. I want to achieve a specific result. I know there are consequences, but there are always consequences when you take action. Life always has a risk attached to it. But if you want something then you have to decide what that really means. Practical magic is about shaping your life in a direction that is favorable to you. This doesn't mean you discount others, but it does mean you evaluate what is needed to help you achieve your desired outcome and then you do it.