Of course the spells don’t work without a wand. It’s the wands that have the power, the spells just direct that power. Getting hold of a wand is the hard part. You don’t see too many phoenix feathers around any more.
In your case, eh?
**
IIRC the original text is actually refering to specific group of priestesses. “Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live.” since they sacrificed children by poisoning them. Translations extended from the specific to the general.
Because you’ve gone from thinking bad thoughts to actively seeking to cause harm. More, bad thoughts are condemned. You’re not supposed to covet your neighbor’s wife or things. If you try to steal those things or commit adultery with his wife, whether or not you succeed is irrelevant. You’ve gone from bad thoughts to actively trying to do wrong.
but is trying to cure a wart by waving a magic wand a bad thought, and wrong?
I’m sorry, but this apologism is complete poppycock. If I want to wax my car, am I defying god by using a shammy instead of praying? If magic exists, then how is it different, in terms of not relying on God, from using a shammy? What does “supernatural” add to the discussion? To a caveman or camel herder, a shammy/spraybottle would seem just as supernatural as a magic wand.
Then why aren’t people protesting NASCAR, which seems to promote the use of cars to drive fast as a positive good?
A bad thought? No.
Wrong? It depends.
Magic is one of the practices that are prohibited. It’s not wrong for Freyr or Kung Foo Lola. It is wrong for me. It’s not wrong for them to eat bacon cheeseburgers. It is wrong for me. There’s a big list of ‘You are my people. You don’t do these things. Other people can. You can’t’
No rounding the corners of your head, no yoking an ox and a bull, no fortune tellers or wands.