You have to understand, Ma'ai, that magick and Wytchery and the like are all about devisements. If we play at this at all, and court the magick at all, it is to make ourselves feel more powerful. Spells work because of energy expended. Even if you were to work a spell by rubbing crystals, spinning in a circle and chanting "We all come from the Goddess" until you were so dizzy that you threw up your dinner, it would be that you were doing it for you. People know not how powerful they are. That is the truth.
Any Wytch or Seer who claims that they have a God/dess given gift only and does not need tools is a fool indeed. I like your use for a crystal ball. I must admit to owning a couple, but it is because I like the shape, not because I scry with it. I have a black mirror for that. ;)
Oh I know exactly what you're talking about here ... and unfortunately, this sort of "behavior" doesn't only apply to religion. Humans, in general, love to make up their own rules and get on high horses and spout off. I once said this about a so-called "designer" who was running their mouth a lot: "If you can walk the walk, then by all means, talk the talk. But if you can't, and your designs suck, then you need to shut the f**k up!" *g*
athame= index finger, staff/stang=spine, and the great rite doesn't have to be symbolicexinaJuly 19 2004, 16:24:57 UTC
I do admit to giving up the "crutch" of ritual, and tools. I like to use the energy raising formula taught me by my 3rd coven hp- "raise, focus, and release". You can fill in just how you do each step to taste
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Re: athame= index finger, staff/stang=spine, and the great rite doesn't have to be symbolicmaaiJuly 19 2004, 16:44:34 UTC
Well, I see divinatory tools as a means of having verification outside yourself when there is noone else around who can. I think a person can 'guarantee' their accuracy better that way, and owes at least some effort to someone who really needs their insight.
"Ritual" is a very open term. I used to do them, until I discovered that what I intended began to occur before I even made it into the 'ritual' chamber. At that point, just commiting myself to changing a situation and seeing the outcome was my ritual. I do something different now.
So, I certainly didn't mean that energy can't be moved in other ways, or that people don't have real intuitions.
This is about people who obviously have no actual working experience, and see fit to tell everyone how it's "really" done, or should be.
I must add that the reason I poked around your journal in the first place was that your comment to sacredinthecity impressed me. You seemed to have actually *used* 'magic' for something and had something useful to say, which sets you apart from 99% of the people I
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Re: athame= index finger, staff/stang=spine, and the great rite doesn't have to be symbolicexinaJuly 19 2004, 17:02:04 UTC
Yeah, I do the nitty gritty "spellwork" when I can or have to. Most of the work is in the head though. The rest is just a way to focus the will onto the intent. I also use divination for clarification or to simply calm myself for intuition. Shuffling cards is very soothing. But it's freaky to go through my dreams and see how they were trying to tell me something. So I try really hard to pay attention to my feelings, impressions, and dreams more than learning a rigid set of rules for a tool that doesn't "speak" to me all that much. I have a pendulum that I'd like to attune to more so I can use it for location work. (maps, floorplans, that kind of thing) So far, nothin'. :) I've "heard" runes explain themselves to me that I had made myself by hand. Cards are just pretty pictures for me unless I draw them in crayon on construction paper. :) I began fairly early on with making many of my tools, and then it was a short jump to doing without them.
I have no idea where the whole selflessness/doing everything for free concept comes from in the first place -- if you look at the history of magical belief, the concept of a "professional magician" is the rule, not the exception. Hell, you can get that much from a simple readthrough of the Golden Bough, let alone more serious and culture-specific texts...
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Any Wytch or Seer who claims that they have a God/dess given gift only and does not need tools is a fool indeed. I like your use for a crystal ball. I must admit to owning a couple, but it is because I like the shape, not because I scry with it. I have a black mirror for that. ;)
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I have a black mirror too. :)
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*g*
Oh and I did get your aim earlier, but you had vanished like the wind by the time I got back. I recommend this site for little flash movies: http://www.muffinfilms.com . And I highly recommend this site: http://www.archive.org/movies/movieslisting-browse.php?collection=prelinger for actual videos. There is some CRAZY stuff on there.
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"Ritual" is a very open term. I used to do them, until I discovered that what I intended began to occur before I even made it into the 'ritual' chamber. At that point, just commiting myself to changing a situation and seeing the outcome was my ritual. I do something different now.
So, I certainly didn't mean that energy can't be moved in other ways, or that people don't have real intuitions.
This is about people who obviously have no actual working experience, and see fit to tell everyone how it's "really" done, or should be.
I must add that the reason I poked around your journal in the first place was that your comment to sacredinthecity impressed me. You seemed to have actually *used* 'magic' for something and had something useful to say, which sets you apart from 99% of the people I ( ... )
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I also use divination for clarification or to simply calm myself for intuition. Shuffling cards is very soothing. But it's freaky to go through my dreams and see how they were trying to tell me something. So I try really hard to pay attention to my feelings, impressions, and dreams more than learning a rigid set of rules for a tool that doesn't "speak" to me all that much. I have a pendulum that I'd like to attune to more so I can use it for location work. (maps, floorplans, that kind of thing) So far, nothin'. :)
I've "heard" runes explain themselves to me that I had made myself by hand. Cards are just pretty pictures for me unless I draw them in crayon on construction paper. :) I began fairly early on with making many of my tools, and then it was a short jump to doing without them.
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But I think we both know exactly where it comes from.... guilt.
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