Epiphany & Revelations.

 Dear Reader,

Yesterday, the Filianic and Déanic holy day of Epiphany happened. (It coincides with the Christian holy day of Epiphany because the calendars happen to line up that way, much like Nativity falls on the same Julian calendar date as Christmas. I do not think this was entirely intentional or an effort by the founders of this young religion to appropriate these holy days. I think that it was an attempt at de-Christianizing the mid-winter holy season and open up access socially for celebration in other faiths as well. This, however, is a topic for another day.)

Back to Epiphany. That is the date that the Holy Mother comes out of the seclusion of the Cave of the World and reveals to creation the Holy Child, the Daughter of Déa who is Déa. The Light that comes from Pure Light. The Perfection that comes from Perfection. The Holy Child mediates the brilliance of the Holy Mother's Light so that creation might see them together at this time.

Epiphany is a word that means revelation. We witnessed here in the United States a horrific revelation regarding the broken power structure of our nation, the broken social systems of our nation, and a small portion of the systemic problems that we have ignored for a very long time. I do not think it mere coincidence that this revelation by way of a failed coup happened on the date of Epiphany.  I think it is a cosmic wake up call for this nation and a warning to our society that we have failed to be vigilant against forces that would destroy us.

I believe that there is a road forward that navigates the perils that lay about us. It is my belief that the first steps forward is to reaffirm our commitment to our democracy, the denouncement of facism and white supremacy, and the rebuilding of the social network that took care of the People of this nation. I think this is something that can be accomplished at all levels of the country: individual, local, regional, state, and national. We did not defeat the Nazis in World War II. Because they resided among us and acted as 'Good' Americans to fly under the radar. Look up the German-American Bund. Look at the origins of various hate groups. You will find at the root are Nazis and their ilk.

I formally denounce these people. I hereby decry their abysmal behavior as shameful and horrific. The members of the attempted raiding party on Capitol Hill yesterday who wore the emblems of my faith are not supported, encouraged, embraced, or approved by myself. Further more, I curse them to suffer the harshest of punishments that can be meted out by the High Ones and by our judicial system. And when they pass from this world, let them wander alone and rejected by the halls that would comfort them until they have paid full penance for the evils they have wrought in the days leading up to and on yesterday. And may this curse carry forward and harry them through whatever evils they attempt in the future, frustrating their efforts, blunting their weapons, and rendering them speechless.

Chaos Magic vs Rules.

Dear Reader,

In my recent post on Egregores vs Servitors, I mentioned that chaos magicians work within a set of rules. It sounds contrary to the very concept of chaos magic. Not all chaos magicians work within a set of rules that most would recognize. I'm one of the more 'in the wind' chaos magicians. I may structure things according to Wiccan ritual format, if I'm in the mood or organized enough to do so. More typically, my spells are about as chaotic in format as they are in manifestation. Let me repeat that for you, my spells are pretty chaotic in format and they are pretty chaotic in manifestation. I don't narrow my spell manifestations down to a single incident that I desire. I set the parameters to a specific window of manifestation opening the options for the solution to the problem I am dealing with to evolve and develop on its own with a healthy nudge from myself.

I've posted previously that there are some rules about how to go about cursing someone. (Let's use cursing as an example because it's Spooky Season.) At the same time, cursing can be as easy as making a vulgar gesture and throwing some energy emphasis behind it. I have been known to use high ritual to cast a curse, complete with a blood sacrifice. That is less common than my flick a stone in the general direction of the person and send some negativity after it. And the flicking a stone after my target is even less common than my summoning my anger and trauma to send the misery after the target.

I don't curse people often. But I tend to use tactics that are on the fly and less than conventional. Chaotes sometimes look at me a bit weird for how I do things.Not many people weaponize their own trauma and terrible experiences as part of their magical practices. The rule that stands out in chaos magic is the same one that stands out in standard magic, what you send out is going to come back to you some how. Basic cause and effect, there's going to be a push back when you throw something at a target. Physics still functions even when you are going into the spiritual realms, it just functions in a cockeyed and weird way.

Intermediate Witchcraft: Psychic Safety Lessons

Here is a link to the posts on psychic safety. I will be posting on psychic safety in the future something like a series of lectures on how the mechanics of some of this stuff works. Because if you know how your equipment works, it is easier to service and use it properly. I'll be getting into some weird topics like egregores eventually. I'm going to start out with the nuts and bolts level of basic magical 'machines'.

If we were talking about actual machines, this would be my showing you how hammers, saws, and levers work. The previous posts are simple exercises using those proverbial hammers, saws, and levers. Egregores^* and related topics would be the simple computers of magical construction. Now, just as tools can be used for various purposes beyond what they were originally intended and in the hands of a creative and properly motivated person anything can be a weapon, I know that these lessons can be taken in directions beyond what I am promoting.

Anything you do with this information is on you. Caveat emptor. I am the writer who produces the spell book. You are the one who decides if it is a coffee table book or a tool. And what you do with said tool is your karmic and moral responsibility.

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* Somewhere, I know, there is a ceremonial magician ready to pull their hair out right now. Homonculi, egregores, and tulpa are on one level more complicated than computers and at the same time, they're very simple. So, I apologize to the ceremonial magicians who are probably just this side of a meltdown over this eventually coming up. You're not the only keepers of this knowledge and I assure you that my path to it is different from yours.

Spell craft: Elementary Cursing

They say if you can't curse, you can't heal. It's an old statement mentioned in pagan and occult communities for as far back as I can get in my research. There's a lot of variations on it. The one I encounter most frequently is "If you can't hex, you can't heal." Hexing is different from cursing, though there is a tendency to refer to curses as hexes. I'm not entirely sure where that got started, but when I get to the bottom of it I will report my findings as per usual. Cursing is actually an effective tool in health magic, which is why I have no problems at all with the use of it.

I'll repeat myself, a curse can be a very effective tool for healing and health magic. A curse is used to diminish something, turn it away, or otherwise act contrary to the target's nature to cause it to self destruct. In the case of medical issues, a curse upon cancer that it wither and cease to exist is actually a really good thing when the patient is undergoing chemotherapy. Like all magic, however, there is an element of unpredictability so that the manifestation of said curse is not going to be exactly as you envision unless a great deal of effort is put behind the curse.

Blessings are as different from curses as night is from day. They function in opposite manner, manifest in different general ways, and require different sources of effort to be put behind them. Curses are infamous for the use of blood magic in their rituals. (Blood magic can be used for blessings. Any instances of blood magic must be taken with great care for practical and magical safety. I advise all but the most experienced from engaging in blood magic. There is a lot of power there and it's hard to aim a fire hose when you're used to handling a garden hose.) Generally, curses are more emotive than blessings, and based in very powerful emotions at that. They are the metaphysical equivalent of playing with fire, which is why most are advised against it.

A box of matches, however, are not going to burn your house down if you handle them responsibly. The use of curses is ancient. There can be examples found from every culture, even our more secular focused culture here in the USA. If a person from the South tells you 'bless your heart' they thing you're a fool and are quite likely ill-wishing you. It's a mild curse likely to make your luck go a little funny if they have enough loathing behind it and you may find yourself in a few awkward situations at random a day or two after it's been dropped on you.

Many people confuse vulgarity with cursing. This is because in ancient times the taboos against things like mentioning the blood of Christ were so powerful that they were viewed as potentially impacting the person making said statement and the people around them, ie: a localized curse. Vulgarity however was used in more recognizable curses as a source of emotive power. The more taboo behind the statement, the more emotive power it had. This is still fairly true today, as seen in statements that are considered mortal insults.

Cursing also included the practice of calling to the divine to curse the target. Thus the word 'damn' became a curse and vulgarity. The demanding of divine judgment against the target is something that is an ancient practice but also still happening today. Take a moment to casually peruse the actions of groups like Westborough Baptist and other Dominionist sects, you will find them praying that their god judges the targets of their prayers as vile and deserving of divine wrath. Similar examples can be found in the ritual exhortation of Masonic lodges against the Jewish people that is part of their regular prayer and magical practices. 

Scratch the surface of any religious community, you'll find a curse somewhere. Some curses disparage the target and demand horrible things happen to them. Other curses simply demand the target be diminished. Curses, at their best, function to bring greater health to the community and the people they touch. A simple curse can be as easy as ill wishing, known as the 'evil eye'. When used wisely, the 'evil eye' can prompt change within the community for its greater welfare or drive away danger. There is a risk in using the 'evil eye' however that it will bounce back to you and you will have cursed yourself. 

This, however, is one of the risks in curses and all other 'left hand' magical undertakings. The more you throw out into a magical working, the more potential blow back there will be as well. Throwing a rock in the pond causes ripples outwards but it will also cause a splash up in the trajectory the rock was cast from. The same happens with magical work. Remembering your basic magical protection skills and practices, this will mitigate that splash back at you like a raincoat prevents you from getting soaked. Advanced magical protection skills plus a minor curse is like adding an umbrella to the raincoat.

Blasting stones.

In the process of my study of the 'dark' side of magic, I found myself reading about nithing poles and related items from different cultures. This got me to thinking and questioning, is it possible to have an item that is charged with a general purpose or a specified curse that would be released upon being thrown. (Don't ask me how I made that leap, I am not sure myself how I got there to be honest.) This resulted in my tinkering a bit and doing some experimentation.

After a bit of experimentation, I came up with what I call blasting stones. My set of blasting stones are glass pebbles that you can get at a craft store. I haven't found the right type of stones to use for this purpose. I know that when I do, the glass pebbles are getting replaced. I used an odd number of stones because in my experimentation, I found that things that are oddly numbered and dissonant lend themselves better towards this kind of thing. When writing a curse, I will make a point of making sure it doesn't rhyme or have some sort of musical quality to it. (The number of curses that I have made that break this little 'rule' of mine numbers in the single digits.)

I then charge the stones with the curse that I wish to inflict. I key the curse so that it is released when the stones are cast in the direction of the target. I often accompany the curse with a visual of a stone being thrown at the target. Then, when I find myself in a position where I require a curse but with out the time to formulate one, I would toss a blasting stone in the direction of my target. The more stones tossed in their direction, the stronger the curse.

The stones can be cleansed and reset to a 'neutral' state before being loaded with another curse if you wish to recycle them. At the same time, it is possible to use common gravel for this purpose so that you can charge your stones with the curse, toss the stone, and move on to something else with out having to retrieve the stone.

Psychic Self Defense 101: Counter-curses

In my previous post, I introduced the topic of counter-curses. A counter-curse is not something to be taken lightly. Using one for minor psychic attacks is the magical equivalent of using a howitzer to kill a fly. It is gratuitous and wasteful. It is also not guaranteed the precision necessary to eliminate that fly. It will, however, hit everything around it and cause significant damage.

Counter-curses requires a significant investment of energy, resources, and time. While they can be developed on the fly, it takes some experience to craft an effective one. In the past twenty years, the number of times I had to use a counter-curse I can count on one hand and have fingers left over. It is rare to need one but a valuable skill to have when it is necessary. The magical ability to 'return fire' is useful not only in instances of psychic or magical attack by another person. It is also something that builds the practitioner's defensive skill set that can be employed on the astral plane[1].

When casting a counter-curse, it is helpful to have props. While a person can do magic with out any physical tools, it is easier to employ ritual tools because it assists the practitioner in focusing their spiritual energy upon the goal of their spell casting with less need to focus upon the incidental matters of establishing ritual space, entering the correct mental state for magical work, or wrangling elemental energy. It is also helpful to use materials that can be disposed of easily and in an ecologically sound fashion. Disposing of the used materials from casting a curse helps to limit how much of the energy pushed back hits you.

There are two ways to cast a curse. One is to infuse it with one's anger, hatred, and other negative emotions. The high energies that come with these emotions serves to power the spell and give it a little extra kick. There is a reason why curses have been traditionally associated with these emotions, because this is what is most frequently used. It is an easy way to access spiritual energy and to take steps to resolve the emotions[2]. The other method of casting a curse is to do it 'cold' with out much emotion involved in it. Casting spells that draw upon the magical reserves that can be accessed at all times results in a longer lasting spell and one that builds gradually over time, where as the emotion based spell has its greatest effect at the time of initial contact.

Curses are one of the times where I recommend the use of a poppet or similar focus. This helps the caster to focus their spell on the target. Precision in casting curses is important. An improperly cast curse has the potential to rebound and hit the caster with the full force of it. Because it is the caster's own personal energy behind the spell, it penetrates the caster's shields very well. Also, an imprecise curse can hit someone other than the target if it does not rebound. The backwards push of magical energy along the thread connecting the caster and the target will be difficult to predict because of the unknown nature of the person receiving the curse[3].

The simplest counter-curse is to give the attacker ill luck and general misfortune. Assembling a counter-curse is much the same as assembling any other curse. A magical focus is required. Tools to establish magical space are necessary. Invoking spiritual allies and deities is a very good idea in this case. I personally use candle magic for these sorts of spells because when your candle burns completely, there will be a substantial reduction of material.

It is possible to tie the spell's action to the burning of the candle. If a fast burning candle, such as a birthday cake candle, is used, it can make the spell have effects rapidly when the manifestation of the spell is tied to it. It is also possible to use a small candle that will burn completely to carry the curse to completion. It is most effective when the curse involves the removal of something from the target's life. As the candle 'disappears' the spell will receive additional strength in removing things.

Counter-curses are curses. They are martial magical that is being used for defensive purposes. All curses carry the risk of negative effects upon the caster. Thus, they should be undertaken only when absolutely necessary.

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1. The astral plane is also known as the spirit world. It is the aspect of reality wherein magic unfolds and spiritual beings exist, primarily. It is also the aspect of reality that one can enter into via dreamwalking.

2. A curse must not substitute for the caster's work to resolve emotional problems. If there is difficulty with integrating and resolving unpleasant/negative emotions, seek out professional assistance.

3. All spells cast create an energetic tie between the caster and the target. Energy can flow in both directions along this tie. Also, all energy sent in a given direction will have some return along the path it has gone. It is much the same as basic kinetic motion. If ball A strikes wall B, some of the energy of ball A's energy will be absorbed by wall B and some of it will be returned to ball A in the form of motion that makes ball A bounce off the wall. Precision spell casting ensures the greatest amount of ball A's energy is absorbed by wall B.

July for Loki # 8 Magician

Loki has a reputation as a trickster. He also has a reputation as a magician. (This may include the black top hat rabbit producing variety, but I'm focusing on the other type, the spell crafter.) He has suggested spells to help me accomplish goals, ward off harm, and heal injuries. He has also suggested spells that would inflict suffering, render enemies powerless, and bring people who have wronged me/others to justice. Loki's influence upon my spell craft is fairly subtle. He generally isn't one to sit down and give me a complete spell unless the situation is dire and I am at a loss for how to proceed.

That said, Loki has taken a distinct interest in an ongoing magical project that I am engaged in this month. It is my intent to deliver a variety of curses upon Daesh to hinder their efforts by any means necessary. Some may say that I am engaged in morally questionable behavior by cursing anyone. That may be, but sometimes a curse is the tool that is needed to act against those who are doing evil. It is like using fire to fight a forest fire. Can it turn against me? Possibly. At the same time, knowing that risk, I see the benefits of taking this measure as greater and necessary.

He has had a hand in suggesting how to craft the following spells. I am sure he will have more to say on the next batch of spells that I will be doing in this effort. The fact that Loki is taking an active interest in this tells me that he approves of my efforts and believes that it is an important matter. If you are of a mind to join me in my effort to hinder, remove, and destroy Daesh, you may want to try one of these spells.

Curse No. 1 - Withering Roots: This spell is designed to weaken Daesh and destroy them from the inside out. It could fall under the category of a corruption spell, if you decided you wanted to be technical about it.

Curse No. 2 - Driven on the Wind: This spell is designed to attack Daesh and calls upon the elemental forces of Air to do so. It has some touches of a corruption spell to it but the main focus is destruction via force.

These spells could be adapted for other purposes. If you choose to do so, you are taking the risks of it all into your own hands. Remember, what you send out will come back to you in some fashion. Curses are not something to be done lightly because they carry potentially nasty backblow. (Same can be said for some blessings as well, by the way.)

Spell Craft: Blessings vs Curses

Many people look at magic and assume that blessings are strictly 'good' and curses are strictly 'bad'. Much of what the entertainment industry has presented on this topic has been shaped by the cultural attitude that these two things are true.While cultural belief does shape the metaphysical landscape to a degree, the idea of 'good' vs 'bad is an over simplification and highly subjective. That which is 'good' for one person is not so for another in many cases. That is before you start to consider the implications upon the larger global scale.

As such, I define blessings and curses in a different fashion. Blessings are magic that works to increase an element of a situation. Curses are magic that works to decrease an element of a situation. As such, the spell to increase the population of ladybugs in your garden to combat the aphid problem, for example, is a blessing. The spell to reduce the population of aphids would be a curse. It is with a bit of cleverness and creativity that one can craft a blessing or a curse for any given situation.

Many people argue that certain phases of the moon are the times for certain forms of magic. This is not entirely true. While waxing phases of the moon do correspond with an increasing psychic 'tide' of energy, a curse can still be cast during this time. It will not be as effective as one cast during the waning phase, or the decreasing psychic 'tide' but it will still work if proper effort is applied.

Over the ages, generations of magical practitioners have learned that certain things are true about how one performs magic. Records of this information are transcribed into grimores, tables of correspondences, and recorded folk lore. This information bears out time and again that magic can be worked for increase or decrease of an influence.

There are very few spells that exist for the purpose of maintaining stasis of a situation. This is because life requires there to be movement in all areas. Apparent stasis comes from a slowing of the rate of change, but the changes will still occur. This is due to the fact that change is an inherent part of the fabric of reality. The trick to determining if a blessing or a curse is necessary to achieve one's goal is the same as that for observing anything.

One must compose their frame of reference and operate within those parameters. In the case of the aphid problem example, the first frame of reference calls the ladybugs to increase (blessing) to resolve the problem. The second frame of reference calls for the aphid population to decrease (curse) to resolve the problem. The end result, in either case, is the same, a resolution of the damage caused by aphids.

Some people are most comfortable working from a strictly 'positive' frame of reference. These people could be called 'lightworkers'*. Their primary form of magic is that of blessings. Other people are more comfortable working from a strictly 'negative' frame of reference. These people describe themselves as 'dark' magic practitioners. Then there is the group that uses a blended approach, like myself, who could be described as 'gray' magic practitioners.

The frame of reference is not always an accurate reflection of the intention of the person's actions. As such, it is possible that a person who is working a blessing has a targeted goal that will cause harm or distress to another individual. This is where one must take careful stock of what it is they are attempting to achieve. Blessing and cursing are mere mechanisms of how it manifests.

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* 'Lightworker' is a popular term for people who do primarily positive (increasing) magic. Some people assume that the differences between light, dark, and gray magic are divisions between good and evil. I would invite those who make this assumption to review the previous discussion of the problem of evil on this blog here.