A client asks if the spell she’s considering is the strongest magic available considering her situation.
***
Ok, your question raises several related issues:
1. The issue of “the strongest magic available” aka “biggest guns”
2. The relation between “more involved magic” and “the strongest magic available” and
3. The relation between “coercive magic” and numbers one and two.
I find the analogy of strength to be less than ideal, and only problematically related to coercive magic. I’ll discuss the issue of “strongest magic available” first. This kind of thing is less about one spell or way of working being stronger or weaker. It’s more like food, maybe. For instance, there is more than one way to make chili. You may prefer a white chili, your neighbor may prefer one with no meat. It’s still chili (like there are uncrossing formulas that smell stronger of eucalyptus than lemon, and some people like the smell of eucalyptus. On the other hand, some hate the smell, and would rather work regularly with a lemon-based formula – these are not identical formulas, obviously, adn lemon has attributes with cutting ties to the past that eucalyptus does not have, but both can be the basis for a good uncrossing formula. Neither is stronger than the other, in any real way.)
Or maybe tools are a better analogy, though still problematic — you need to build a new deck. You have a good idea you’ll need wood, and a skilsaw, and a hammer and nails, and a level. But you have a lot of options within that. The smaller decisions are often related to taste, to previous ways of working that you have found effective, to cost and availability of materials, and to personal preference that’s hard to quantify in some way where it can be said something is “best of all.” Hoodoo as a folk practice just doesn’t work that way. Different workers prefer different ways of working, and will recommend one spell over another depending on what personal concerns are available. For instance, a honey jar is just not going to be as strong without personal concerns. It’s the available ingredients in that case rather than spell itself that is “better” or “stronger.” If you don’t have personal concerns, and/or if you need something to work quickly, I would probably recommend something other than a honey jar. Does this make sense?
For instance, based on the concerns you have and what you were able to send me, I made the recommendation I made. I will be sending you the ritual remains of the [work we discussed] to incorporate into your [other work that you’re going to do]. If you were not doing a [certain kind of] spell, and I were doing all the work for you, I might have recommended a [different] attraction spell instead, after which I would have disposed of the ritual remains myself. Is this making any sense?
Now, as for something being “more involved” — many workers of various levels do very very well with simple candle burning rituals. Candle magick is as old as fire and many non-experienced practitioners find it easiest to start with. That doesn’t mean it’s not as powerful as other stuff. It’s just a way of approaching the work. Some folks prefer things that involve burying something in the earth, nailing something to a tree, or throwing something in water, depending on what they’re working on. Most professional rootworkers will ask you a few questions about what you have available, what you want to happen, and what your timeline is like and make a recommendation based on that. In some cases, a spell may be worked on altar for months or even longer — this isn’t necessarily a better or stronger working. It just depends on what you’re doing. a long standing thing like a drawn out court case is admirably suited to the slow-but-steady variety of altar workings.
Finally, re. coercive magic. “Strongest” is not the same as “coercive.” Some rootworkers won’t work coercive magic. I, personally, will, if I feel the case is justified, the client is forthcoming with me about the details, and my preliminary divination doesn’t suggest I leave it alone. I don’t actually have a problem doing coercive magic for love workings in many situations. However, I think it’s a good idea to point you to this livejournal entry
http://karmazain.livejournal.com/11876.html
(if that link doesn’t work, go to karmazain.livejournal.com and click on the Love Spell tags from the list available on the right hand side)
The gist is that coercive magic very often has to be long term work. Hopefully this entry will explain why.
Big Lucky Hoodoo 