Five Hours of Client Work: What Commissioned Magical Work Actually Involves

Why five hours is a standard amount

That is a useful statement, because it tells you something about how magical work is actually measured. It is not measured only by the dramatic moment of a ritual. It is measured by preparation, by the working itself, by the tending that follows, and by the attention given to the matter as a whole. Five hours is enough time for a substantial working to be done properly, without rushing, and without turning a single matter into an open-ended engagement that never closes.

It is also worth understanding what those five hours are, and what they are not. They are five hours of actual work. The candles burning after, and so forth, are obviously not charged for. That distinction matters, because a working does not end when the practitioner stands up from the altar. Candles continue to burn. Incense continues to work in the space. A matter set in motion continues to be held in attention. None of that after-burning is billed as work time, and it should not be, because it is part of the working itself, not additional labour. The five hours are the hours of active, focused work: preparation, evocation or other operation, and the direct handling of the matter.

Supplies needed for the work are included, with no extra charge for them. That is also worth noting plainly, because commissioned work can otherwise become a source of anxiety about hidden costs. Here, the arrangement is simple: five hours of work, supplies included, at one price. What you bring to the arrangement is not money for extras, but clarity about the matter, honesty about the situation, and willingness to do your own part alongside the work.

What kind of work fills those five hours

Those are two very different kinds of work, and they are worth distinguishing, because a client who commissions work should understand, in broad terms, what kind of working they are asking for.

An evocation is a working in which a spirit is called, in a formal manner, to be present and to be asked for help with a matter. It involves preparation of the space, preparation of the practitioner, the calling itself, the presentation of the request, offerings, and a proper closing. It is not a casual act, and it is not done in a hurry. A substantial part of the five hours may go into preparation alone: clarifying the request, preparing the space and tools, and making sure the working is set up correctly before anything is called. That preparation is not wasted time. It is what makes the evocation itself coherent.

The calling of the dead is a different tradition of work, with its own preparations, its own cautions, and its own forms of respect. It may be called on when a matter concerns ancestors, or the departed, or knowledge and help that lies with those who have gone before. As with evocation, the work involves preparation, approach, request, offering, and closing, done with the seriousness the subject deserves. A general article cannot prescribe the details of either kind of working, and this one does not try to. The point here is simpler: commissioned work is not a single gesture. It is a structured operation, done over hours, with preparation and closing as real parts of it.

Other matters may fill the five hours differently. A complex situation may need several workings, or a working that addresses more than one layer of a matter. A matter that has been running for a long time may need unravelling before it can be addressed directly. A matter involving more than one person may need careful consideration of each person's position. Five hours gives room for that complexity to be handled properly, rather than forced into a single short session that cannot hold it.

How to brief a working well

The quality of commissioned work depends, in large part, on the quality of the briefing. A practitioner can only work with the matter as you present it, and a vague or partial briefing produces vague work, no matter how skilled the practitioner is. Briefing well is therefore part of your own work, and it is worth doing carefully.

Start with the situation as it is, in plain language. What is happening, who is involved, and what has already been tried, magically and ordinarily? Be honest about the parts you do not know, and about the parts where your own actions contributed to the situation. A practitioner who is given only the flattering version of a story cannot work with the real matter, and the real matter is the one that needs addressing.

Then state what you want, in one clear sentence, and be specific about what you mean. Reflection about being specific is part of the practice. A request that tries to cover every possible outcome usually covers none of them well. A request that names the situation and the change you want, plainly, gives the working something to aim at, and gives you something to assess afterwards.

It also helps to state what you do not want, if there is something you clearly do not want. Not as a list of prohibitions, but as part of clarity: if a particular outcome would be unwelcome, or a particular path would cause harm you do not intend, say so plainly in the briefing. A practitioner working on your behalf needs to know the shape of the matter, including its edges, in order to work within it honestly.

Your part, alongside the practitioner's work

Commissioned work is not a matter of handing a problem over and waiting. Your part continues alongside the practitioner's hours, and it matters in ways that are easy to overlook. You may be asked to light a candle at home, to keep a particular practice during the working period, to avoid a particular action, or simply to pay attention to what changes. Those instructions, if given, are part of the working, not optional extras. Follow them as given, and if you cannot follow them, say so plainly, so the working can be adjusted honestly rather than carried out on a false basis.

Your ordinary work also continues. If the matter is a relationship, the ordinary work of speaking plainly and keeping agreements continues. If the matter is a livelihood, the ordinary work of doing the job, meeting people, and following opportunities continues. If the matter is a legal or safety matter, the ordinary handling of that matter continues, and takes precedence. Magical work done alongside ordinary work has something to hold onto. Magical work used to avoid ordinary work tends to settle back, because nothing in the daily pattern changed to hold it.

It is also your part to observe, and to keep a record. Write down the request as you gave it. Write down the period of the working, as far as you know it. Then, over the following weeks, write down what changed, in plain language, without forcing every event into the shape of a result. Review that record weekly, not hourly. Patterns across weeks are far more informative than single incidents, and a calm record is what lets you assess, honestly, whether the working addressed the matter.

What five hours does not buy

Five hours does not buy a guaranteed result, and no honest practitioner promises one. That point is about the magical result itself, not about delivery of a physical item. What five hours buys is five hours of skilled, focused work, with supplies included, on a matter you have briefed clearly, performed by a practitioner who has practised for many years. The result of that work is yours to observe, over time, in your own life, and to assess honestly against the request you made.

Five hours also does not buy unlimited work. It buys the standard amount for many things, not for everything. A matter that turns out to be larger, more layered, or more complex than first presented may need more time, or a different approach, and that should be discussed plainly when it becomes clear, rather than assumed. A good commissioned arrangement is a conversation, not a vending machine: the practitioner tells you honestly what the matter seems to need, and you decide, honestly, what you want to commission.

Five hours does not buy secrecy about the matter from yourself. If a working reveals something uncomfortable about your own part in a situation, that revelation is part of the value of the work, even when it is unwelcome. A practitioner who tells you only what you want to hear is not serving you. A practitioner who works honestly, and reports honestly, may tell you something you would rather not hear, and that telling is worth listening to.

When commissioned work is the right choice

Commissioned work is the right choice when a matter is beyond your current practice, or when you are too close to it to work on it clearly yourself, or when it needs a kind of working you do not practise. It is also the right choice when a matter is urgent in a way that does not allow time for you to learn a whole system first. In those cases, asking an experienced practitioner to do the work is not a shortcut. It is a sensible use of skill, the same way asking a skilled craftsperson to do a piece of work you cannot do yourself is sensible.

Commissioned work is not the right choice when you have not yet decided what you actually want, or when you are hoping the working will decide for you. In that case, the work to do first is clarification: writing, reflection, conversation with someone you trust, or a reading that helps you see the matter more clearly. Once you know what you want, a commission has something to aim at. Before that, it has only a vague hope, and vague hopes make poor briefings.

It is also worth considering whether a smaller, specific working would serve you better than a large commission. Not every matter needs five hours. Some matters need a single evocation, a single talisman, or a single spell, done well. Five hours is the standard amount for many things, and it is offered for those things. If your matter is smaller, say so in the briefing, and let the practitioner advise you honestly about what it actually needs.

A note on trust in commissioned work

Commissioned work asks for trust on both sides, and that trust is built by plain dealing. The practitioner deals plainly by saying what the work involves, what it costs, what is included, and what cannot be promised. The client deals plainly by briefing honestly, by following any instructions given for their own part, and by reporting afterwards what actually changed, rather than what they hoped to report. When both sides deal plainly, a five-hour commission becomes a solid piece of work on a real matter, rather than a vague hope dressed up as a transaction. That plain dealing is worth more, over a long practice, than any dramatic claim, because it is what lets a client return, with confidence, when the next matter arises, and what lets a practitioner do their best work without guessing at a half-told story.

Client work, 5 hours

If you want substantial commissioned work done on a matter, this is the arrangement offered here: Client work 5 hours, $540 CAD. View the product

That is five hours of actual work, with candles burning afterwards not charged for, and needed supplies included at no extra charge. Quite often the work includes an evocation, or the calling of the dead to help. No guaranteed magical result is promised.

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