Amnesigenic

Depends on who you’re asking, from experience all I can say conclusively is that Catholics would definitely say no, but I’m 100% sure there’s at least one christian sect out there that would say yes and be entirely serious

Literally every single excuse for prayers not working can be employed for spells not working just as effectively, no modification required

And? There’s more important shit to worry about than people being silly

If I had to guess I’d say the friend is either boosting the transition because duh, or trying to fuck because why else would you not tell them what the spell is for? Unless there’s some rule about spellcasting like for birthday wishes where it doesn’t work if you tell

You don’t have to believe it literally to justify participating, plenty of people who understand rationally that prayer won’t instantly get them what they want still pray

Prayers and spells are exactly the same behavior, a ritual for asking greater powers to intercede on your behalf. For people who genuinely believe in it there’s always some “works in mysterious ways” shit to justify when the thing they asked for never happens so they can keep believing it anyway, and as long as they ask in a vague enough way and on a vague enough timeline something will eventually happen that fits the bill close enough for them to call it a success. For people who don’t believe it literally but still participate it’s basically just ritualized affirmation, a self pep talk to make them feel more confident or prepared or calm using religious/occult symbolism to psychologically reinforce the effect.