Witchcraft: Is it a Bad Omen if Your Spell Goes Wrong?

I did a spell at the Spring Equinox. It involved planting a seed and setting an intention, with the idea that as the seed grew into a flower, so my wish would come true. Sadly, I have to report that the things I used didn't quite do what I wanted them to do. In fact my potting compost went mouldy and I had to throw the whole thing away. Does that indicate I'll never get whatever I wished for? 

It's the kind of question I often get asked when I teach practical magic classes. If a spell candle goes out, a wax or clay effigy cracks, or indeed a seed fails to germinate or even goes mouldy, is it a bad omen?  Will the spell backfire?

My answer is that it's far more likely to just mean that particular spell attempt didn't work. It won't backfire on you. You can try again. You can always try again. In fact, trying again is the best thing to do. 

Most spell component failures are for boringly mundane reasons. In my case, I'm pretty sure I know what I did wrong. I improvised a propagator, upcycled from two clear plastic food pots. However, I later realised I hadn't cleaned the pots properly before reusing them. They were in a warm place and obviously moist inside, which is the perfect environment for things to go mouldy.

Of course I'm a bit annoyed this happened, but I'm not taking it as an omen of doom and catastrophe. Instead, I'm going to have another go with more seeds and cleaner pots. The lesson I'll take is not to rush things and to check my spell ingredients more carefully in future.

The picture at the top shows the ingredients for a seed-planting spell I did a few years ago, which worked perfectly. I thought I'd show you that rather than a photo of something mouldy. The reason is that you shouldn't overly dwell on mistakes or things that go wrong. Recognise any error, learn from it, and move forwards with the intention of doing better in future.