For Beginner's Here is My Version of The Basics which are skills and concepts one should study, learn, and practice as often as possible. These skills are essential to successful and effective spell casting and magical workings:

The First step of the basics is understanding and defining what magic is, and how you see and understand it.

Real Magic is not merely an assortment of skills and techniques. It's a blend of interest and dedication. Which allows each person to observe, to learn, to adapt, and to invent unique ways of changing identity and reality from within by manifesting your intentions into reality by a myriad of different means.

In my own personal opinion and belief, Magic is the force that weaves the very fabric of life, it holds together space and time and everything within. Magic nourishes nature and in turn nature nourishes us by supplying bounties of food, water, and air. It is a collective power that can be used as a powerful force to manifest ones will or desires to bring about specific changes in the world of the living or beyond. Using strong belief, concentrated energy, desire, and visualization one can achieve such an action. Magic can be manifested in many forms such as spells, rituals, chants, prayers, meditation, and even mere thought. It is the point in which the boundaries of reality and chaos unfold. Where sheer willpower meets a unifying force of power, which is the most supreme. It cannot be defined nor explained in its truest sincerity; although many great scholars and practioner's of magic have tried. The greatest of all forces is that of Love, it is unyielding and intoxicating; a constant force that drives the very essence of magic. It is the most important and necessary component and catalyst that harbors the conscious and unconscious mind to transform mere thought and desire into existence. Our world has many cultures and belief systems, though we may diversely differ in our beliefs; magic however, unravels its mysterious presence within all of them.

List of Commonly Accepted Concepts and Basic Skills of Magic:

• Meditation
• Visualization
• Alignment of Energy
• Centering & Balancing Energy
• Raising & Sending Magical Energy
• Charging & Empowering
• Grounding Energy
• Altering Consciousness
• Desire & Will
• Casting the Circle
• Love

Knowing your correspondences and associations-such as astrological signs, planets, moon phases, chakras, auras, candle colors, and their meanings etc.

Meditation -is a practice with many different methods and techniques that is used for many purposes such as clearing one's head of any distractions or thoughts to prepare for a spell or working, to communicate with the divine, to find inner peace or to relieve anger, stress, or anxiety; send and or receive messages from spirit guides etc. It is, however, not meant to just empty your head but rather focus on a specific goal or thought.

A simple meditation exercise, one of many-

Go to a quiet place and sit or lay down in a comfortable position, take a moment to breath and be. Slowly start to breath in and out counting your breaths. Inhale and Exhale 1 inhale and exhale 2 and so on. Do ten repetitions of this and take a break, then start over until you can do ten repetitions without having any thoughts, feeling, anxieties, or worries interrupt you.

Visualization -is the practice, oftentimes but not necessarily accompanied by meditation, of picturing or seeing in your mind your desire or goal. This helps aid you in your working and increases the universal energies to accomplish your task. An example of visualization is for instance you are trying to heal someone, there are many methods of doing such also, but here is one way. Think of the person you are trying to heal, see them in your mind as if they were right in front of you. Picture their wound or illness and focus on the point of the afflicted area. Imagine yourself reaching over the sick or injured person and you begin to hold your hands over them while concentrating. Then picture a light of any color, whichever you feel represents healing, coming forth from your hands and starts surrounding the person and their wound etc. See that you are connected to the universal collective and energy is flowing through you into the person as it heals there wound or sickness.

Alignment of Energy -is making sure that whatever task you are attempting or performing be done at the correct time and place keeping in mind that energies are aligned and harmonious for the proper effectiveness and outcome. This relies on you knowing the difference between receiving energies and sending/banishing energies and applying suck knowledge to its appropriate use thereof, among other things. Everything happens for a reason in its own time and place, by knowing how to recognize such things is important in the practice of magic and spell casting.

Centering & Balancing Energy - is the practice similar to aligning your energy. You focus and concentrate your energy within you for a specific purpose. Centering is being in the present frame of mind and focused on the task or goal at hand. You make sure that you have a clear plan for what you are doing and how to achieve it. Do not let distractions and outside influences veer you from what you are doing. Do not think about mundane or trivial things like what you are planning to make for dinner and other related thoughts that tend to linger. It is important to have a firm foundation and a self awareness. This awareness will aid you in balancing and stabilizing your emotions, feelings, thoughts, and helps you express your desires and will more freely and clearly.

Raising & Sending Magical Energy - When working with magical or spiritual energies you should think about whether or not your Spell, Task, Desire, Goal etc. is powerful enough to manifest your intent. The most important part of raising and sending energy is your concentration and ability to project. Henceforth meditation is frequently used for this purpose, as all things must work harmoniously together for the outcome or results to be successful. Emotions are an important factor, because your emotions are directly linked to your energies, and they flow in Flex and Flux with what you project. Achieving an emotional balance, while also recognizing your emotional state should be aligned with the type of energy you are projecting and the spell or task that you are attempting, is important. Meditate as often as necessary in order to reach a consistency of energy flow.

Charging & Empowering - is the process of cleansing an object or tool of its previous inlayed energies, then empowering or imbuing it with the desired energy to match the specific purpose it is meant to be used for. This is usually done after consecration of the item, consecration is the dedication of an item for a specific purpose, to make sacred and pure, but is not necessary. Some people believe that Charging is Synonymous with Consecration but is not always the case. There are various methods of Charging an item, however the easiest example is by empowering it with ones own power or energy, usually done with a visualization technique.

Grounding - can be one of two practices that are both equally important one is becoming connected with the Earth and rooting yourself to the physical plane, allowing are roots to go deep within the rich soil of Earth. The other is the process of grounding excess or negative energies. This can be done in a variety of methods but the essential goal is to rid yourself of energies that are negative or inconsistent with the task or magic you are working at hand; and after you have done your work e.g. casting a spell or some sort of magic, you would ground or purge yourself of the excess energy you have gathered and release or give it back to the collective or the earth etc.

Altering Consciousness - is the process or altering your current state of mind to achieve a specific task or purpose, there are many ways to do this Meditation and Visualization are two of the most common methods. However, there are other ways to do this, such is altering your emotional state, altering your bodies biochemistry or your bioelectrical network, various herbs and mixtures can do this.

Desire & Will - Regardless of whether all people would include this as a basic concept that all practioners should follow, I thought that I would include it. Having a strong Will and the Desire is key which can be synonymous with Belief. If you believe something strong enough you could manifest it into being. I mention this because of opposing forces. Even in physics it is commonly know that particles or energy reacts differently to one another, an example is two magnets opposing each other etc. So if what you are trying to achieve has an opposition or force greater than itself, shouldnt you increase your will and desire to manifest past the barriers of the opposing force. Not to mention that the barrier between a thought/desire/will etc and a manifested outcome is extremely high to begin with, all the more reason to have a strong desire and will to accomplish your goal or get the intended results.

Casting The Circle - This is a practice that is not followed by all either and there are many various methods in which to conduct the practice, from saying a phrase, casting a spell, to an elaborate ritual or process. However casting the circle is meant to provide a circle of protection, a sacred space, a peaceful and safe environment deflect negative or opposing energies etc.

Love - I have mentioned before, in my definition of magic, that love is the most important and necessary component and catalyst to achieving your magical goal or purpose. I say this, when thinking of positive and healing magics, magics that are beneficial to others and even yourself. You should have a love for the person you are helping and you should love yourself. Obviously this cannot be said for someone casting or performing dark, negative, or selfish acts of magic. Though it can be argued that evil can love too, however this component of The Basics is added by my personal belief, I have never actually seen anyone else add it to a description or list of Basics.

Knowing Your Correspondences & Associations - It is in the best interest of a practitioner to learn, understand, and recognize common and useful key elements that chart various aspects that are involved in the use and creation of magic and spells. Knowing and Understanding the different elements and their associations, astrological signs, planets, moon phases, candle colors, chakras, auras etc. is important for you as they will help or guide you create your own spells, know when and where to cast them, recognize patterns, sense energies etc. There are too many differing beliefs