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A Lecture on White versus Black Magic

inmyblueheaven — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 06:06:03 GMT

This eloquent essay by François-René Rideau is truly fascinating; it deals with the distinctions between white and black magic and with where both types of magic can be found in society.

[The main] principle of black magic [is as follows]: to expect miracles, happiness, success, redemption from failures, etc., from external and superior entities that feed from the humiliation of those who voluntarily make sacrifices to them and who reduce unbelievers to subjection, from spirits that rejoice from one's destruction of oneself and other people, from gods that demand one's contempt for oneself and other people, from supernatural beings with unlimited powers and arbitrary desires that are not bound by any law knowable by reason but are meant to be influenced by a show of feelings from their humiliated followers. In short, this black magic consists in the irresponsible tying of one's hope of future satisfactions to the whim of external and superior intervening powers.

Now, divinities that could be corrupted by such sacrifices do not deserve being sacrificed anything whatsoever. They are abject beings against which any self-respecting human being can but revolt. Those that grovel at the feet of such divinities are slaves, swine, creatures lacking the dignity of their own free will, and who are prompt to forsake it indeed.

But such is not the only way magic can be conceived. There is another magic, white magic. Its principle is: work and strive to earn as a reward each and every blessing that one enjoys. In as much as this attitude can be explained in terms of divinities, these divinities are bound by knowable laws, and it is from respect of these laws rather than from their whims that one seeks to obtain blessings, through hard work. In a certain way, these divinities are not supernatural beings existing above nature and free from its laws — they are the laws of nature themselves and nature itself. They do not demand adoration and submission but understanding and acceptance. They are satisfied not by the abjection of worshippers but by the raise in dignity and talent of their observers. They reward not the scared humiliation of submissive humans, but the respectful mastership of proud individuals. They do not promise to believers the future grant of surreal relishes but invite the wise to reevaluate their present desires considering the constraints of reality.

These divinities are untouchable but well-meaning; they have no superiority complex, and do not demand an extensive display of groveling submission through an uninterrupted sequence of sacrifices. They offer us a non-hierarchical relationship between equals, or rather, between unequals, where matters not the appearance of periodical external shows, but the depth of a permanent internal discipline over oneself, a discipline that aims not toward debasing oneself to submit to the gods, but toward enhancing oneself to master them.

Prayer in black magic is passivity and destruction, in an attitude of humiliation and worship. Prayer in white magic is work and creation, in an attitude of determination and respect. The disciple of black magic does evil with the hope that some good will emerge out of it through a miraculous violation of the laws of nature. The disciple of white magic does good by consenting to an effort appraised as the least evil according to the laws of nature. Priests of black magic invoke authority as the source of knowledge, and claim that the ways of their gods are unfathomable to anyone but them. Priests of white magic propose conjectures that are subject to the open review of everyone's reason and experience, and gaining insight into their divinities is the very essence of their religious practice. Priests of black magic extend their cult by subjecting the infidels to their creed, by humiliating and degrading other people. Priests of white magic extend their religion by subjecting their beliefs to the criticism of other people, by freeing and bettering themselves. Believers of black magic are the slaves of their gods. Believers of white magic are the masters of their gods.

Black magic and white magic coexist in traditional and instituted religions. They are two opposite poles of behaviour between which are each of our acts. Black magic always wins in appearance; you will always see it dominate the established institutions, glorified by formal rites and astonishing shows. But it is white magic that actually makes the world go round, even if it requires discernment to see that; it is white magic that continuously adapts to the world, from which stems all creation, that serves as the basis for civilization itself.

There is an opposition between Good and Evil, but it is not the cosmic struggle proposed by the priests of the cult of the dead; it is not a conflict between superior gods, where Good would be to submit to the god of one priest rather than to other gods. On the contrary, it is the opposition between on the one hand a culture of destruction, of humiliation and of spectacle, and on the other hand, a culture of creation, pride and work.

The original source can be found here.

Looking Back....

mdehners — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 17:40:05 GMT

So, while waiting for tech #7 day before yesterday I was browsing my metaphysical library and looked through some of my old notebooks/journals. As anyone whose journalled for a significant amt of time knows, this is an Interesting Experience.....not necessarily a Pleasant one;>. And since I have mine from the late 80's on(the earlier ones were lost when I 1st moved to the Gulf Coast in the early 90's), that's a lot of self-indulgent whining, scattered with minute bits of wisdom. For some reason one from the late 80's when I was Working with Flower Essences caught my eye.
One bit was my self-diagnosis of Gentian/Hornbeam Personality. Re reading my notes and my Bach Flower books I was in a way pleased to note the diagnosis held up AND that I carried less of the Negative aspects of those personality types....though less than I would have liked since almost 25 yrs had passed since;>!
It also reminded me of my life studies. While they LOOK diverse, they tend to focus in 2 areas, Healing and Botany. Even my studies of Runestaves tended to focus on the use of them to deal with ailments.
Reading these entries reminded me of one of the greatest Weaknesses those of us in the alt.rel community have; the distraction of the new and shiny(which in the case of jewelry and cutlery literally;>!). It takes Discipline to NOT drop what you're Working on to a new Modality before you've Mastered it. I admit I DON'T. I also admit that I'm better than a lot of folks I know too, so I don't beat myself up too much;>.
Just being on this platform is a form of Journalling and rereading archived material if you've been on a while can be just as revealing...or disappointing. Still, I think it's a "Good Thing" to ever so often get out an old journal at random and read, if only to see how your earlier self dealt with life's lessons.
Cheers,
Pat

Official Greetings and Salutations!

aubkabob — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 12:51:02 GMT

Hello, friends, and well met!

I became moderator of this community a couple of months ago and meant to do a nice lil post all introductory-style, but... yanno.... life.

So, nice to meet you! My name is Aubrey (birth name, means "leader of the elves" of all fabulous things) and I'm a newish Registered Nurse living in the Pacific Northwest, USA. I currently work NOC shift (6 pm to 7 am), so I'm generally up and around whilst the rest of the local universe slumbers.

I've considered myself "nondenominational pagan" for, eesh, almost 25 years now. Now that I have more downtime (I only work about 14 days a month though I'm full-time) without nursing school, I hoped to explore more of various aspects of paganism. When given the opportunity to help this community become more active, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to explore such things, make new friends, and increase activity in the group.

So, my question to you: What would you like to see here?

Belated...

aubkabob — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 16:19:29 GMT

A belated Happy Solstice! How was your Yule?

Calling on love

inmyblueheaven — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 02:01:25 GMT

This is not a spell request. Rather it's a question about how a specific type of spell can and can't be done (in terms of rules), and a solicitation of advice concerning materials for that same spell.

We're talking about a love spell here. And my questions are as follows:

1. I want to do a herbal love spell for my dear friend. He's a wonderful person who's had a really hard time and really bad luck with love, and is suffering for it. Some magic is needed here to move the energy. I want to do a spell to attract the right person for him (not myself) directly to him. All this with his permission, of course. But my question is whether it's actually possible for me to perform a love spell for another person who is not myself, where the end result that I am invoking does not directly involve me at all. Is this too personal a spell to perform for another person, or would this be considered a common enough, acceptable practice?

2. If in the end I do perform this spell, I'm thinking of burning love-related herbs as a part of the ritual. Below is a list of the herbs I'm planning to use. Are there any others that you would recommend? Any that you would not include, or take out?

* Rosemary (to attract faithful love)
* Ginger (a symbol of passion)
* Rose (for its sweetness)
* Cinnamon (another passion symbol)
* Cardamom (to draw love)
* Bay leaf (to attract a soul mate)

Thanks so much for your help! X-posted.

Honey jars

theunicursalhex — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:40:22 GMT

Anyone made one? Please post your experince here.

Anti-fetch spell?

fayanora — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:02:29 GMT

A friend of mine is having a problem with a fetch in her hometown. A pretty nasty one, by the sound of it, it's hurting people physically. (A shadow-formed fetch.) She's looking for "a formal counter-spell" against fetches, because she wants to send the fetch back to its maker, hurting only the maker and not anyone (human or animal) around the thing's maker to get hurt by it. So if anyone knows one, let me know in a comment, okay? Thanks in advance!

HexenFest This Friday

mschaos — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 01:21:59 GMT

If you are in the Bay area or have the ability to be in the bay area this Friday, you should be at this event

Hexenfest offers an evening of entertainment and revelry based on magick and a dark sensual aesthetic --both visual and aural-- at the Oakland Metro performing arts venue on 630 Third Street, in Oakland, CA 94607, on Friday night March 9th, 2012.

Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm, cover is $20. Costumes are encouraged, and advance tickets are available at http://www.indiegogo.com/HexenFest?a=416878

The all-ages event is introduced by MC and DJ Jason Pitzl-Waters from the A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast, and also features live music by Pandemonaeon and RaZor Skyline, a dark fashion show by Tombo Studio, and bellydance performances by Morpheus and Anaar.

Pandemonaeon’s tribal rock sound (http://www.pandemonaeon.net/) has been described as “dark tribal fusion with powerful vocals and metal accents” and “music for bellydancers in combat boots.”

Goth rock/industrial band RaZor Skyline (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-RaZor-Skyline/167528907843 ) features darkwave textures, gothic melodies, hard guitars and driving middle eastern beats.

Tombo Studio (http://www.tombostudio.com/) produces exotic fashion “for a new belle époque,” which will be showcased on stage & at several similarly themed vendor booths at the venue.

Jason Pitzl-Waters is the creator of The Wild Hunt blog http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/ ) and the weekly music podcast A Darker Shade of Pagan (http://www.adarkershadeofpagan.com/)

witchchild — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:44:09 GMT

Ancestors: Dead don't mean gone.

A good introduction to ancestor venetarion by Mambo Chita Tann.,

witchchild — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 01:53:11 GMT

Myths about pirated books from an employee at Llewellyn.

If you've ever downloaded a copy of a book from the Internet and it was not an authorized copy, read this. There are very few pagan authors who can afford to support themselves fully off of their writing alone. From the post:
Most authors support themselves with full-time jobs in addition to writing and enriching their communities. The very few who don’t work a “day job” have to tour and teach constantly to make a salary to live off of. Some even sell potions, spells, or courses on the internet to add a little income. And yet they still provide plenty of free content on their websites, blogs, facebook pages and other media. They are more than willing to share – up to a point. If they approach a publisher to publish their book, it means, by default, that they want to get paid for it. It has value. So do them a favor and buy their book if you appreciate their work and want to make sure that they continue to write for, communicate with, and teach the community in the future.

Looking for Good Reads

inmyblueheaven — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:54:23 GMT

Hi there and Happy Holidays.

I am currently looking for recommendations of good books or good reads on the net about the history of magical practices in Iceland, Scotland, and Germany. Since this is my bloodline, I'm wanting to investigate.

Thanks for your help! X-posted.

A little timely advice would be welcome...

candika — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 13:57:36 GMT

Hi,

I've not posted here for a long while but I really need some kindly advice but the issue is painful and dark so I'm not sure if this is dyne right place. Please, if this isn't appropriate, Mods, delete it.

About four months ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I've had the surgery: they got it all but it had already spread. Radiotherapy is too dangerous in my case so I'm up for six months of chemotherapy, which is making me very I'll indeed. I'm working through it, though, and generally OK with it from a psychological point of view.

But it hit me really hard today, what with being too Ill to have Christmas with my family and all, and I started thinking about why this had happened to me. I was raised to believe that one's sin found one out and punished you. Later I believed in the Rule Of Three so I've been searching my memory and my conscience To try and figure out what I could have done to have brought this on myself. I can't learn anything from this if I don't know what I did to create this situation.

2012 moon phases, Equinoxes, Solstices etc

seshen — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:55:10 GMT

Next month's moon phases. You can change the URL to any month/year you need:

http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-january-2012.phtml

This year's Winter Solstice arrives tonight at 11:30 pm CST. Here are the 2012 Equinox, Solstice & Cross-Quarter Moments across all time zones. The charts go through 2020.

http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/2012.html

Seshen

Daily Practice

ravensong — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:21:48 GMT

So, I'm really wanting to try to incorporate my religion a bit more into my life. It's something that is important to me. But I was wondering about daily devotionals. It's something I'd really like to do as I like the idea of doing something every day to honor my goddess, but I'm unsure what to do.

I know the most obvious thing is to meditate or recite some piece of poetry or something like that. But...I absolutely suck at meditation. I've tried it--several times--and it just doesn't work for me. At least not in the traditional sense (I use freewriting as my meditation, but my home computer is currently on the fritz thanks to a blown fuse a few days back). And after awhile, the poem can lose it's meaning or importance if it's said to much--at least to me. Simply reciting something after a time doesn't require that much focus (for example, we can all recite the ABC's without thinking too much about it). So, barring meditation, what are some other ideas of things I could do? What do you all do for daily practice (if that's something you can and feel comfortable sharing)?

If it helps to know, my goddess is Brighid.

(Also, I realize that I could just simply light a candle for Her each day, but I was wanting something a bit more...in depth? Not something where I just light a candle and go about doing other things. Lighting a candle is fine, I would just want to be doing something else devotional related while it's burning.)

Pagans of Iowa City, IA/Coralville, IA

nokturnel — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:28:03 GMT

First I want to state that I did get this promotion oked by one of the mods :) Thanks to witchchild for letting me do this. I think this will help out a lot!

This is geared towards the Pagans (any form/any beliefs welcome) of Iowa City, IA and Coralville, IA. A group on facebook has been created specifically for those who identify as Pagan who are living in the Iowa City/Coralville area. We want to create a sense of community, the Pagan community in this area isn't very outspoken but I do know that there are plenty of us living here.

It is my goal to get as many people connected within this area. Potentially for gatherings and events but mostly because it would be really great to have some sense of a Pagan community here. It would be so fantastic to make some Pagan friends who actually live very close and within the same community that I live in. The other mod of this group has the same hopes. We're just trying to get everyone together.

If you're interested in joining and meeting fellow Iowa City Pagans then please go to the following link:

Iowa City Area Pagans on Facebook

Thanks for reading :)

Again, I really appreciate being allowed to post this.

Tis the season! (Spirit/Ghost Question)

rainbow_punk — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:34:54 GMT

Back story: So something moved into our apartment and has been hanging around since May. Being that the vale is growing thin, whatever it is seems to be a bit more active. I hesitate to call it a ghost due to I don't get that vibe from him/her/it. Nor do I think it is in anyway malicious. Whatever it is just seems to be hanging out and ignoring us for the most part. The problem is that my wife is really sensitive to energies and while this one is not exactly threatening, it's is effecting her. We have some basic protection up but it's not doing much good. I'm hesitant to do anything major until I'm able to actually tell what it is.

So here is the question. Does anyone have any website resources for pagan dealing with ghost, spirits or faeries? Again, I'm not really sure what it is and all the literature that I've been able to dig up isn't helping much. Any info would awesome! Thank you!

Please share this

witchchild — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:08:31 GMT

The West Memphis 3 ~~may be~~ARE released today.

A Tweet from Natalia Maines, I hope someone follows up on it. "All 3 boys will be set free today and all 3 are completely innocent. They must plead guilty as a technicality so they can't sue AK for $$."

A spell/ritual question...

elven_sphinx — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:35:43 GMT

This may be a bit of a two-part question...
For the past 7-8 mos. I've been repeating this same spell during the waxing moon. Once the spell-casting has been finished, I take down all the components and put them neatly away. Not a big deal to take it all down and set it all back up once a month, but... would it hurt (by hurt I mean, 'to lessen or interrupt') the energy of the cast spell in any way to leave the tools used in the spell up all month long?
And (possible 2nd part of Q), in so doing, would that not in a way turn the set-up into an altar?

Also, in the past and here recently I've been reading about visualizing what it is you're wanting and while working your spell believing that it is already your's or soon will be.
-When trying to visualize a person...if you can't seem to accurately picture their face...does that hurt the visualization any? As long as you're aware of who the person is and can mostly visualize (accurately) their body and body-movements, could that be enough combined with your will and desire?

Thank you so much in advance for your help/suggestions.

X-posted to Non-Fluffy Pagans and _Wicca_.

Candles + herbs...

elven_sphinx — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:43:38 GMT

I've been doing a honey-jar spell for the past 7mos. now, burning candles atop it once a month as we near the Full moon. Up 'till May I'd only ever dressed the candles in oils and then burned them...this last burning I dressed the candles in oils and then rolled them in ground up dried rose petals, then affixed them to the top of the jar as usual... well, usually when I burn my oiled up candles they burn pretty much like a regular candle and the wax drips down over the jar as well as builds up on the lid. This time the flames shot up pretty high -a good 6-7 inches tall, and melted away all of the accumulated wax on top of the lid. It was pretty messy and somewhat alarming...

Is this usual to have so much of a reaction with the addition of ground-up herbs to oiled candles?
I had read somewhere of adding herbs to an oiled candle for a spell and I really liked the idea, but I didn't expect the flames to shoot up that high nor for it melt all of the wax from the top of the honey-jar.
-I ended up having to blow out the flames (the candles had already totally melted away, so I assume it was the remnants of the rose petals that was still burning)....I became concerned that the heat might cause my honey-jar to crack.:( Thankfully, it didn't.

Further....my honey jar was sitting in an aluminum pie-pan in a stainless steel sink (for fire-safety concerns at the behest of my house-mate)....this may be a ridiculous question, but would the energy/magic of the spell be in any way hindered by the presence of the aluminum and stainless steel all around it? Or does that not even matter?

Thank you so much.:)

A question concerning herbs...

elven_sphinx — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:15:15 GMT

My mother's husband has recently passed, she's (of course) not doing well with the loss....and one thing bothering her is that she was having a couple dreams with her departed husband in them, but she could never fully remember the dream or even most of it. I'm still recovering from a bad break-up after a 10yrs. relationship and somewhat frequently will have dreams with my ex in them...but I don't always remember alot of these dreams.

So, in an effort to try to rectify this, I picked up some mugwort (which I've read is supposed to help you to have more vivid dreams as well as, to help you actually remember them better) in the form of a smudge stick from my local metaphysical shop... I made a small satchel for each my mother and myself in which I added lavender, pieces from the mugwort smudge stick, dried rose petals, chopped up mandrake root(for protection while dreaming), and a small chunk of a Apophyllite crystal. Then we each placed our little satchel into our pillow cases where it would be closer to our faces than from under our pillows.
-Oddly....now neither one of us remembers a single thing from our dreams upon waking.:/

Could I be doing something wrong? I understand that everyone has different physiological reactions to certain herbs and other things, not sure if that could be playing into this or what...
I haven't burned the mugwort-smudge bundle at all, so I haven't inhaled it directly.

Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thank you so much.:)

some good pagan feedback

seshen — Sun, 22 May 2011 00:45:42 GMT

I received a comment on my YouTube channel from a viewer who said that they took the plunge and participated in Pagan Coming Out Day. The overall reaction has been pretty much neutral, and the viewer said, " I don't know what I was so afraid of!" Now THAT's the feedback I like to hear about!

blessed Beltane to all who celebrate this holy day

seshen — Sun, 01 May 2011 19:34:56 GMT

A classic from Julie Andrews in honor of the 1st of May.

"The Lusty Month of May"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pljyjiIMH9o&feature=related

"Pagan Coming Out Day," May 2

seshen — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:56:42 GMT

I've been "out" since the early '80s, and can say from personal experience that, for the most part, people are generally politely curious or accepting. I can count on one hand the number of actual negative reactions I've encountered. This is including the fact that both our children (one now 28, the other a teen) have been raised in an openly pagan household, and I have been open at with family/friends, at work, at their schools, and in the general public. I love this "Pagan coming out" movement in the spirit of having a visible support group for those who may not be in environments that are as accommodating as some of us have been blessed with.

http://pagancomingoutday.com/

The Gods help those who help themselves.

brianthedog — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:26:58 GMT

The mods will never accept this, but I'm submitting it anyway...

Hi everyone,

I've been working on a ritual that I hope will help me bring about the change I need in my life.

I call to the Ancient Crone, Goddess of the passageways to death,

and I call Her in the ancient ways:

as Kali, Nephthys, Hecate, Hel, Ereshkigal, Morrigan, and the Erinnyes.

Dread Goddess of shades

You who are Queen of the realm of the dead,

who welcome all mortals into your dark realm,

sparing none and forbidding none,

Hear the cry of one who would enter your gates.

Swing open, I pray, the doors of your kingdom,

Or, barring that, give me the strength to open them myself.

I who tire of the light of life,

Enfold me in the bleak peace of your dark realm.

Soon may it be, and for the good I intend.

So mote it be.

I call upon the Dread Lord of Death,

He who rules those found no more above the soil,

and I call Him in the ancient ways:

as Anubis, Hades, Saturn, Kronos, Pluto, Odin, Yama,

Dark lord of the Dead,

You who welcome all mortals into your dark realm,

sparing none and forbidding none,

Hear the cry of one who would enter your gates,

Swing open, I pray, the doors of your kingdom.

Or, if it must be, give me the strength to open them myself.

I am no Orpheus, who wishes only a glimpse of the world beyond this.

May my body, which need no longer live, return with haste to the clay

My my heart, which cannot love, be buried in the deepest part of Styx!

May my eyes, which have had enough of light, soon find their rest in beholding your dark form.

May my soul, ever an alien in the world above,

find its home at last among the shades.

May my memory disappear like a puddle in summer's drought.

Soon may it be, and for the good I intend,

So mote it be.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More of a Samhain thing, I know, but hey, it's fall Down Under....

At least she doesn't have to do patdowns any more...

brianthedog — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:58:00 GMT

http://www.politicususa.com/en/tsa-employee-carole-smith-fired-for-being-a-wiccan