If you ever set intentions, cast spells, manifest magic or in any other ways deliberately engineer reality, your workings will be vastly amplified by cultivating an attitude of non-attachment to outcome. And i’m going to tell you how to do that.

Hello, I’m Anna Bellissima. I am an extremely powerful magician, as of course are you, and today I’m answering the question: what is non-attachment to outcome, and how do I cultivate it? An excellent question. And the predictable but also thrilling answer is that you do it through shadow integration. I’m going to give you my 3 step, brutally effective, shadow integration process to become unattached, open and surrendered to the universe. A vital ingredient in magical workings, and in living a joyful and creative life.

But first some background. Just for fun, imagine that you are an all-powerful deity. You can create and destroy galaxies with a snap of your fingers. You can assume any physical or metaphysical form you desire, from a clamshell to a fertility god. Nothing can or could ever oppose you. And to break the monotony of endless bliss, you chose to play a game. And as soon as you decided to play, you were incarnated as a human soul in a sweet little baby’s body, and you began to learn through experience, and through explicit teachings from parents and from the culture, what it means to feel limited.

In fact, that’s the name of the game: limitation. And ever since you got here, you’ve also been taught that certain sensations, physical or emotional, cause you suffering and must be avoided at all costs. Nothing in this game is real. Every object, environment, situation you encounter, is created by the game running in your consciousness to give the seamless illusion of limitation. And every intelligence you interact with, every person, animal, plant, deity, reflects some facet of the game of limitation, or they give you a message that you need in order to progress. And then one day – today – you receive a message in the game that gives you a new way to play. And the message is this: pain hides power.

Yes, like finding hidden treasure in a story-based adventure game, you can consciously and deliberately seek out spots of pain, execute a quick and easy process, and instead of suffering, you receive a huge boost of power, by which I mean, magic, creativity, joy, fulfilment, freedom. Wouldn’t that change the way you play the game of limitation? Instead of shying away from painful situations and desperately trying to control outcomes to go in your favour, instead you’d get a hit of excitement when bad feelings come up, in anticipation of the incoming bliss. And even better if the process itself is quick, dirty, and fun. No more suffering. Only either pleasure, or alchemy.

And then we go beyond resilience, or just bouncing back, into becoming beings who are actually anti-fragile, who become stronger through challenge, and not by toughening up, but by deepening into love and into our role as divine creators. It is a very big promise. And nevertheless, I invite you to experiment with this thought for at least the next two weeks.

So here in full is your hack for the game of limitation.

Important note: this process is not suitable if you are deep in depression, anxiety, disassociation, or grief; nor if you are in a state of active trauma. If that’s you, I want you to go and look up some tapping with Brad Yates or Byron Katie. Don’t do this work now, please. You are responsible for your own well-being.

Now that those cats have gone: this process has six steps but in a push, or in public, if you’re trying to do it in the moment, and you have no time, just use steps three to five. Ready?

Here we go: number one: when you notice discomfort of any kind, and you don’t need to be able to name the emotion or sensation, take yourself to a quiet space where you can sit or stand with your back against a wall. Hug something, a pillow, a bag, or a coat to your chest, or just cross your arms in front of yourself and hug yourself. Two: look around the space and notice that you are safe. Breathe calmly, then return your attention to your body. These are the vital steps of the process.

Number three: allow your discomfort to be felt. Let it build. Using your imagination, amplify the sensation so that you feel it even more. More sadness, more fear, more shame, more resentment, whatever it is, and remember you don’t have to name it. When the energy is at a peak say this out loud: I am not afraid of the dark. I created this illusion. My will is done and I reclaim my power. Feel the energy in your body continue to grow and move, and vividly imagine it transmuting from pain into power, health, vitality, magic, manifestation, energy, creativity, freedom, love, joy. Maintain that feeling. Step six: maintain that feeling for as long as you can and repeat every time you discover a new bad feeling.

In an emergency, you can perform steps four to six only and say step five silently to yourself if you are in a public place and don’t wish to draw attention. You will find that many of these emotions and situations require this process to be repeated numerous times before the illusion of limitation is completely dispelled. At other times, the relief is immediate and permanent.

Learning about ourselves as the creators of reality is not without challenges. And once we start to play the game of limitation in a new way, weird shit starts to happen: unexpected results, ridiculous synchronicities, and just reality seeming to twist and dissolve and reform. It can be quite tiring. It is an exhilarating ride, so be sure to be unequivocally on your own side with exceptional and exquisite self-care.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little class. Please check out my recent videos on tarot and on dreamwork, and if you subscribe, you will never miss an episode. Thank you for joining me.

If you decide to engage the support of magic in your various life endeavours, you will soon be called upon to create an altar. In fact, why not create the altar before you are called upon to do so, to demonstrate your eagerness to learn and your openness to experience?

I preface everything I’m about to say with the injunction that there is no prescription for the perfect altar and you can’t really do it wrong. It doesn’t matter where you put it, spirits will turn up there because you intend them to. If you don’t have the right altar cloth, use a tray or a piece of paper, you can make an altar from a tree stump and a stone. Spirits will meet you there because you intend it.

The first thing to do is to select a place for your altar. It can be a discreet corner of a bookshelf, the top of a dresser, it can be in a public area of your home or somewhere just for you. It can be permanent or temporary and when you’ve decided on your space, then clean and tidy the area unless you’re creating an altar somewhere like a deconsecrated derelict church, an abandoned warehouse or a tree stump in the woods, in which case embrace the aesthetic. You can follow that with a smoke cleanse with herbs like muggle, lavender, rosemary or sage. And if you dislike smoke, you can buy metaphysical cleaning sprays or you can even just use sound like chiming a bell or clapping your hands loudly to move stagnant energy.

Place a cloth to demarcate the area as sacred. You can use a cloth in a colour that corresponds with your desires for the altar or the deity you’re working with or use a tray or even a piece of coloured paper. I’m using a vintage designer scarf because it corresponds with my intentions for this altar.

Then it’s time to start placing your accoutrements. For a permanent altar, I pass each one through frankincense smoke and utter a silent prayer to the smoke to purify and consecrate them. The most basic altar can just hold a candle preferably again in the corresponding color, a stick of incense and a glass of water. Beyond that, you can add effigies, amulets and talismans, pictures, statues, tarot cards, your handwritten petition, photos of past loved ones who had a particular skill or attitude that you wish to invoke, crystals, food and drink, fresh flowers. Feel free to add new items every day or as often as you choose. For example, you could add a white feather that falls into your path or a beautiful leaf or petal or any small items you come across that strike you as sacred.

I also store some of my magical paraphernalia on my altars. For example, I have some very sacred anointing oil and incenses which demand to be kept in a holy place and likewise I keep my meditation mala on my altar.

Once your altar is built, perform a brief consecration. You could recite the Orphic hymn or a poem of your own to a particular spirit or deity or simply a few minutes of meditation followed by the spoken heartfelt wish that your devotions be heard.