Personally, I have no problem with Hexes, Jinxing, Curses, the Evil Eye, whatever the kids are calling it these days. It’s all good with me, which should be rather obvious by now to anyone reading this blog, but I figured I'd go ahead and spell it out. Pun intended.
I don’t think less of those whose beliefs prohibit them from hexing, as even sheep have their place in the balance. I just don’t personally believe in limiting my craft or myself in such a way. Also, I don’t believe in Karma. Neither the original Hindu/Buddhist version of it, as I don't believe that reincarnation applies to everyone, nor the bastardized NeoWiccan version, simply because it's stupid. As far as the Neo-version goes in respect to my life, Karma either doesn’t exist, or it’s just really damn slow. It probably doesn’t hurt that I was fiddling around with spells long before I ever heard of the term Karma, so it’s not like the idea of it was floating around in my head, tripping me up or making me paranoid.
I also feel that it is beneficial to be able to know how to cause harm in order to better work in other areas. For example, how can you heal a person without causing harm to the disease that is affecting them? How can you protect your loved ones magically without being able to back that security up with a bit of mystical ass kicking should anyone be foolish enough to trespass against you and yours? Baneful magic is a part of the overall balance. I believe that sometimes a person has to be willing to get their hands dirty. That overall, they will be stronger for it.
IMO, it’s a rite of passage. An exploration of destruction before one can fully understand and embrace everything that comes after. I believe that everything has it’s purpose and place in our world, and that includes the things that many would shy away from due to personal, or moral objections.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t advocate running around willy nilly, hexing every person who cuts you off in traffic…..although there was a time I used to have some fun with sigils, cutting them out of tin foil and wrapping the foil around a flashlight, then using it against bad drivers….but those were my younger years, I’ve mellowed considerably since then. I believe in personal responsibility, and proportionate spell casting, meaning that you don’t need to cast a death spell on a cheating lover, when a simple STD one would suffice.
- Melisandre Pandemónium
- "The whip hurts, but I measure power by my ability to withstand it...not in your strength in using it."
Monday, October 10, 2011
Your Karma = Dogma!
I do not personally believe in the concept of a threefold law, or the NeoWiccan version of Karma.
In the 20-plus years that I have been a practitioner of the Occult I have never personally seen any evidence that there is any form of cosmic system in place that deals out punishments and rewards based on another person's actions.
Nor do I believe in a universal concept of good and evil.
Considering the fact that many of our morals and laws are based on our own desire for mortal self-preservation, I do not believe that most of the things that we, as humans, consider to be "good" or "bad" would be seen in the same light by a higher power.
A glance at the mythologies of any culture would show that the Gods themselves often embrace their own pettiness and cruelties, so why would they place judgment on us for doing likewise?
Now, I do believe that every action causes a reaction, but does that mean that if I hex someone that I'm going to be punished in return? No. In fact, the reaction caused by a negative action on my part could very well be positive.
Even if you look at energy manipulation in the same light as tossing a stone in a pond, and the reaction to your spell the ripples that stone causes, it is easy enough to avoid any form of backlash from your casting with simple shielding or making sure to get the wording of your spell right.
I do tend to look at all of my potential spells as I would a monkey's paw. The old "careful what you wish for". It is also why I never outsource any of my work to another entity, because while most of them are not nearly as dumb as they pretend to be, they will muck things up if you leave any leeway in your wording. Plus there's the whole fact that they always seem to want some sort of payment for their services and too many of them have a nasty sense of humor for me to want to meddle in their affairs.
Overall, while I do recognize that some recoil can result from spell casting, I personally do not believe that it is the result from some cosmic nanny that spanks us when we are bad. No, it is much more simple that than, usually the result of poor wording, dealings with entities that enjoy causing mischief, or even a witch's own paranoia and belief in Karma, which is what I attribute the majority of these "threefold" instances to.
Basically if you believe that you are going to be punished, then you are pretty much giving yourself the evil eye. Kinda the same as believing that breaking a mirror will bring you bad luck.
A person's own personal belief and superstition is usually their greatest enemy.
As to why anyone would want to believe in something that's so obviously detrimental to their own craft? Well, I personally believe that this mentality is the result of either residual fear left over from an early childhood monotheistic belief system, or a need on the practitioner’s part for society to accept their spiritual choices. They achieve this by convincing others that they are more harmless and enlightened than their religious counterparts.
It’s a fear of being judged, by either the God they were raised with, or the society they live in, as well as a social animal’s craving for acceptance from the rest of the herd. It’s easier to convince others that you do not fit the stereotypical misconceptions of an “Evil Witch” if you are constantly sprouting off about how not causing harms to others is one of the core tenets of your belief system.
It’s also why those types tend to become hysterically vocal against any Occultist who doesn’t follow their guidelines. They don’t want anyone drawing attention towards the more mischievous practices of the Craft, as the resulting negative perceptions could very easily shine the light right back on them.
What makes Karma such a prominent figurehead for such persons is the helpless desperation they feel when anyone harms them or the people they care about. They are unable to overcome their fears of persecution in order to take matters into their own hands, so they attempt to soothe their impotence with some mystical boogey man who will step up and spank their enemies for them. The irony is that they create this dogma in order to avoid crossing that fine “harm none” line and yet, by voicing their convictions in Karmic retribution, they are in fact subconsciously sending out baneful energies towards others with the intent to cause a specific degree of harm against them.
In a way, Karma is not very much different than giving another the Evil Eye. It just negates the need for personal responsibility so far as the practitioner themselves are concerned. In their minds they are still good little girls and boys who only dabble in white magic and never harm others. This type of deluded mindset makes it easier for them to sleep at night so of course they wholeheartedly embrace it with relish and ketchup.
That’s not to say that I have any real issue, besides a healthy lack of respect, for those who do choose to believe in Karma or follow the Threefold law, it is just that neither have anything to do with my personal path, no more than a Sceintologist’s belief in Xenu, or a Christian's belief in eternal damnation, has anything to do with me.
In the 20-plus years that I have been a practitioner of the Occult I have never personally seen any evidence that there is any form of cosmic system in place that deals out punishments and rewards based on another person's actions.
Nor do I believe in a universal concept of good and evil.
Considering the fact that many of our morals and laws are based on our own desire for mortal self-preservation, I do not believe that most of the things that we, as humans, consider to be "good" or "bad" would be seen in the same light by a higher power.
A glance at the mythologies of any culture would show that the Gods themselves often embrace their own pettiness and cruelties, so why would they place judgment on us for doing likewise?
Now, I do believe that every action causes a reaction, but does that mean that if I hex someone that I'm going to be punished in return? No. In fact, the reaction caused by a negative action on my part could very well be positive.
Even if you look at energy manipulation in the same light as tossing a stone in a pond, and the reaction to your spell the ripples that stone causes, it is easy enough to avoid any form of backlash from your casting with simple shielding or making sure to get the wording of your spell right.
I do tend to look at all of my potential spells as I would a monkey's paw. The old "careful what you wish for". It is also why I never outsource any of my work to another entity, because while most of them are not nearly as dumb as they pretend to be, they will muck things up if you leave any leeway in your wording. Plus there's the whole fact that they always seem to want some sort of payment for their services and too many of them have a nasty sense of humor for me to want to meddle in their affairs.
Overall, while I do recognize that some recoil can result from spell casting, I personally do not believe that it is the result from some cosmic nanny that spanks us when we are bad. No, it is much more simple that than, usually the result of poor wording, dealings with entities that enjoy causing mischief, or even a witch's own paranoia and belief in Karma, which is what I attribute the majority of these "threefold" instances to.
Basically if you believe that you are going to be punished, then you are pretty much giving yourself the evil eye. Kinda the same as believing that breaking a mirror will bring you bad luck.
A person's own personal belief and superstition is usually their greatest enemy.
As to why anyone would want to believe in something that's so obviously detrimental to their own craft? Well, I personally believe that this mentality is the result of either residual fear left over from an early childhood monotheistic belief system, or a need on the practitioner’s part for society to accept their spiritual choices. They achieve this by convincing others that they are more harmless and enlightened than their religious counterparts.
It’s a fear of being judged, by either the God they were raised with, or the society they live in, as well as a social animal’s craving for acceptance from the rest of the herd. It’s easier to convince others that you do not fit the stereotypical misconceptions of an “Evil Witch” if you are constantly sprouting off about how not causing harms to others is one of the core tenets of your belief system.
It’s also why those types tend to become hysterically vocal against any Occultist who doesn’t follow their guidelines. They don’t want anyone drawing attention towards the more mischievous practices of the Craft, as the resulting negative perceptions could very easily shine the light right back on them.
What makes Karma such a prominent figurehead for such persons is the helpless desperation they feel when anyone harms them or the people they care about. They are unable to overcome their fears of persecution in order to take matters into their own hands, so they attempt to soothe their impotence with some mystical boogey man who will step up and spank their enemies for them. The irony is that they create this dogma in order to avoid crossing that fine “harm none” line and yet, by voicing their convictions in Karmic retribution, they are in fact subconsciously sending out baneful energies towards others with the intent to cause a specific degree of harm against them.
In a way, Karma is not very much different than giving another the Evil Eye. It just negates the need for personal responsibility so far as the practitioner themselves are concerned. In their minds they are still good little girls and boys who only dabble in white magic and never harm others. This type of deluded mindset makes it easier for them to sleep at night so of course they wholeheartedly embrace it with relish and ketchup.
That’s not to say that I have any real issue, besides a healthy lack of respect, for those who do choose to believe in Karma or follow the Threefold law, it is just that neither have anything to do with my personal path, no more than a Sceintologist’s belief in Xenu, or a Christian's belief in eternal damnation, has anything to do with me.
Pentacular Manslaughter:
The Pentacle/Pentagram are two very well known Occult symbols, which pretty much goes without saying, but for me, they mean more than just their usual interpretation.
I personally prefer the Pentacle, as I tend to bind all of my symbols and sigils in circles, so instead of constantly typing out both terms, I shall instead focus on that one in particular.
Also keep in mind that I am not trying to redefine the commonly accepted meanings behind this symbol, as much as I am simply expanding on that in order to explain what it signifies to me and my path.
Inverted, the Pentacle represents a funnel, one meant to symbolize the drawing in of energy. The downward point symbolizes grounding, an embrace of the physical. Whenever I wear an inverted pentacle, it is expressing that I am on the hunt, seeking to draw energy into myself, while remaining steadily bound to the material world.
Right-side-up, the Pentacle represents an ascension of my nonphysical self, which I refer to in my path as my Phantom.
Bear with me here, I’m going to try and explain my used of that term.
For me, there are 3 sides to my being. The Physical, which is my fleshy, mortal shell, the pupa in which I spend the first stages of my journey in this life. The Mental, which is where logic, reason, emotions, and in my case, lunacy are stored, and finally the Spiritual. I believe that the mental and spiritual portions make up the soul, and that once we die and cast away our flesh, all that we are carries over to our next form. Since this form tends to be intangible at times, and since I have access to it anytime I exit my body for whatever reason or another, I began referring to it as my Phantom as a way to distinguish it from the soul or spirit.
The terms I use in my path are ones that I came up with years ago, in order to explain things I experienced, a very long time before I ever encountered my first piece of literature on the Occult, so some of them don’t exactly mesh well with what most people are used to. What can I say? After that long, I became stuck in my own way of doing things. Plus “Astral projected self” doesn’t work for me since I don’t tend to go to the Astral, and plus it’s a bit of a mouthful.
Moving on….
Basically, my Phantom is everything that I am outside of my flesh. It is the me that transcends the physical for the purposes of spiritual journeys, shifting, or the hunt. (Which is a totally different type of hunt from the one mentioned above.) So whenever I wear a Pentacle that is not inverted, it expresses an intention on my part to seek beyond the physical world, focusing my attention past materialism and anything else that binds me to my flesh.
While I also adhere to the Pentacle’s myriad of other meanings and symbolisms, these in particular are the foremost on my mind anytime I happen to have one on my person, and dictates just how I choose to wear it.
I personally prefer the Pentacle, as I tend to bind all of my symbols and sigils in circles, so instead of constantly typing out both terms, I shall instead focus on that one in particular.
Also keep in mind that I am not trying to redefine the commonly accepted meanings behind this symbol, as much as I am simply expanding on that in order to explain what it signifies to me and my path.
Inverted, the Pentacle represents a funnel, one meant to symbolize the drawing in of energy. The downward point symbolizes grounding, an embrace of the physical. Whenever I wear an inverted pentacle, it is expressing that I am on the hunt, seeking to draw energy into myself, while remaining steadily bound to the material world.
Right-side-up, the Pentacle represents an ascension of my nonphysical self, which I refer to in my path as my Phantom.
Bear with me here, I’m going to try and explain my used of that term.
For me, there are 3 sides to my being. The Physical, which is my fleshy, mortal shell, the pupa in which I spend the first stages of my journey in this life. The Mental, which is where logic, reason, emotions, and in my case, lunacy are stored, and finally the Spiritual. I believe that the mental and spiritual portions make up the soul, and that once we die and cast away our flesh, all that we are carries over to our next form. Since this form tends to be intangible at times, and since I have access to it anytime I exit my body for whatever reason or another, I began referring to it as my Phantom as a way to distinguish it from the soul or spirit.
The terms I use in my path are ones that I came up with years ago, in order to explain things I experienced, a very long time before I ever encountered my first piece of literature on the Occult, so some of them don’t exactly mesh well with what most people are used to. What can I say? After that long, I became stuck in my own way of doing things. Plus “Astral projected self” doesn’t work for me since I don’t tend to go to the Astral, and plus it’s a bit of a mouthful.
Moving on….
Basically, my Phantom is everything that I am outside of my flesh. It is the me that transcends the physical for the purposes of spiritual journeys, shifting, or the hunt. (Which is a totally different type of hunt from the one mentioned above.) So whenever I wear a Pentacle that is not inverted, it expresses an intention on my part to seek beyond the physical world, focusing my attention past materialism and anything else that binds me to my flesh.
While I also adhere to the Pentacle’s myriad of other meanings and symbolisms, these in particular are the foremost on my mind anytime I happen to have one on my person, and dictates just how I choose to wear it.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Nature blows:
When I was much younger, around 12-ish, my parents would spend a great deal of time over my aunt’s house, playing cards with her and her husband.
During these visits, I would always stand on the edge of her property and stare off into the distance. For hours I would do this, from the time we arrived, until we left, I would not move from that sport, hardly even blinking.
This is but one of the many reasons why my Mother’s side of the family thinks that I’m a little weird.
What they don’t know, what I never told anyone, is that I was attempting to summon the wind. All of those hours were actually being spent in meditation. I would focus on the trees across the street, because they were the only non-pines around, and did my damnedest to will the leaves into moving.
Alas, I was not successful. Nature, it seems, is not my forte, and neither is telekinesis apparently.
I always believed that since I felt empowered during storms, that I could also call them to me. I was wrong, Although, my mistake was only in believing I had the ability to summon them, comes to find out that I do have a connection to storms, just not the type I had expected.
It was this realization that caused me to divide my personal trad into two separate parts. Warlocks, who deal with energy manipulation, and Shamans who are more attuned towards Earth magics.
I settled on the Warlock path and have been happily offended Neo-Wiccans with the term ever since.
During these visits, I would always stand on the edge of her property and stare off into the distance. For hours I would do this, from the time we arrived, until we left, I would not move from that sport, hardly even blinking.
This is but one of the many reasons why my Mother’s side of the family thinks that I’m a little weird.
What they don’t know, what I never told anyone, is that I was attempting to summon the wind. All of those hours were actually being spent in meditation. I would focus on the trees across the street, because they were the only non-pines around, and did my damnedest to will the leaves into moving.
Alas, I was not successful. Nature, it seems, is not my forte, and neither is telekinesis apparently.
I always believed that since I felt empowered during storms, that I could also call them to me. I was wrong, Although, my mistake was only in believing I had the ability to summon them, comes to find out that I do have a connection to storms, just not the type I had expected.
It was this realization that caused me to divide my personal trad into two separate parts. Warlocks, who deal with energy manipulation, and Shamans who are more attuned towards Earth magics.
I settled on the Warlock path and have been happily offended Neo-Wiccans with the term ever since.
Poppet Master:
So the standard for poppets is to bury them in some neutral or symbolic place, depending on one's personal beliefs and/or preferences.
Not so much the case with me, as I keep mine, always have. I can trace some of these suckers back almost 20 years, the older ones charged to people I don't even remember anymore.
Anytime I make a poppet, unless it's out of something disposable, I put it in a jar and seal it. Then I use my label maker to put a reference number on the jar, which I can later look up in my Grimoire for the specifics, such as name of the target, date the poppet was made, and spell details. Then I stack the jar on my shelf with all of the others to gloat over.
I call them my "pickled people”.
Any who, my problem is that after 20-odd years of crafting, I'm running out of room for these damn things. I don’t want to throw them out, as just having them around fuels my God-complex, but if I don’t find some type of storage system soon, then the whole lot of them are likely to topple over and crush me to death.
I can just see the headline for that….”Local Warlock murdered by her own Poppets”.
Death by Dollies might be an awesome name for an all female Punk band, but it’s not a very dignified way to kick the bucket.
Not so much the case with me, as I keep mine, always have. I can trace some of these suckers back almost 20 years, the older ones charged to people I don't even remember anymore.
Anytime I make a poppet, unless it's out of something disposable, I put it in a jar and seal it. Then I use my label maker to put a reference number on the jar, which I can later look up in my Grimoire for the specifics, such as name of the target, date the poppet was made, and spell details. Then I stack the jar on my shelf with all of the others to gloat over.
I call them my "pickled people”.
Any who, my problem is that after 20-odd years of crafting, I'm running out of room for these damn things. I don’t want to throw them out, as just having them around fuels my God-complex, but if I don’t find some type of storage system soon, then the whole lot of them are likely to topple over and crush me to death.
I can just see the headline for that….”Local Warlock murdered by her own Poppets”.
Death by Dollies might be an awesome name for an all female Punk band, but it’s not a very dignified way to kick the bucket.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Hidden intentions:
I'm not always so honest when it comes to my crafting.
A few months back someone requested my help with an employment spell. They had planned to get a job so they could move closer to me, and while I was on board with this plan at first, the person in question revealed some rather disturbing preferences to me which guaranteed that he would never be allowed near my home. I won't dish out the gory details here, let's just say that it involved prepubescent girls....as in a certain physical response he'd often experience at the sight of his own prepubescent nieces while they were in various states of undress.
So rather than giving him what he wanted, I instead created a sigil against employment, one that would also bar him from achieving his goals. After it was charged, I sent him a copy and told him to wear it on his skin whenever he ventured out, which he did without question.
It worked as intended. No matter how many applications he put out, none of them proved successful. I think it was the first time in his entire life that he fought for something, motivated by my metaphysical backing, only to have his every dream turn slowly into dust as each day went by that he did not hear back from his potential employers.
To make matter worse, his luck deteriorated. The second he’d step out of his front door, any possible misfortune that could occur would strike him down, deflating him even more.
I never gave him any hint of what I did, despite the fact that he lost all faith in my abilities, because he assumed my spell was a flop.
Sometimes it’s better to be thought of as a delusional hack than to let the target know your true intentions.
A few months back someone requested my help with an employment spell. They had planned to get a job so they could move closer to me, and while I was on board with this plan at first, the person in question revealed some rather disturbing preferences to me which guaranteed that he would never be allowed near my home. I won't dish out the gory details here, let's just say that it involved prepubescent girls....as in a certain physical response he'd often experience at the sight of his own prepubescent nieces while they were in various states of undress.
So rather than giving him what he wanted, I instead created a sigil against employment, one that would also bar him from achieving his goals. After it was charged, I sent him a copy and told him to wear it on his skin whenever he ventured out, which he did without question.
It worked as intended. No matter how many applications he put out, none of them proved successful. I think it was the first time in his entire life that he fought for something, motivated by my metaphysical backing, only to have his every dream turn slowly into dust as each day went by that he did not hear back from his potential employers.
To make matter worse, his luck deteriorated. The second he’d step out of his front door, any possible misfortune that could occur would strike him down, deflating him even more.
I never gave him any hint of what I did, despite the fact that he lost all faith in my abilities, because he assumed my spell was a flop.
Sometimes it’s better to be thought of as a delusional hack than to let the target know your true intentions.
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