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A Prayer Repelling Forcefield

02:48 / 20.02.03

My family is extremely churchy (Baptist) and they're always praying for me and shit. Now, being a magician and growing up in this particular environment, I know the power of prayer. The problem lies in that they're prayers usually consist of how they think I should live and what I should do with my life. Obviously my plans aren't my family's plans and I have recently developed a theory that they're collective never-ending prayers (however well intended) might be canceling out my magicks. You see I have a plan for me and they have a plan for me and I'm being pulled in two (or several) different directions and so evolution is slow. Since no man is an island their influence has to be having some sort of effect, right?

But I've devised a brilliant plan: A FORCEFIELD THAT REPELS PRAYERS! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

It'll probably take the form of a servitor that blocks all prayers involving THEIR plan and lets health, safety, and any other prayers that concurs with MY fucking plan.

Am I being paranoid here? Do their prayers even have an affect on me? What do you think of my shield idea? Got any betters ones?

03:32 / 20.02.03

Would a simple banishing help?

03:51 / 20.02.03

Why don´t you kill your parents? Haha, It was a joke...I love you, imp.

05:53 / 20.02.03

I'd suggest that the very best thing you can do is get over the idea that your family can somehow persuade God to get you to do things that you're not otherwise inclined to do.

All this other stuff sounds (to me) like a tremendous waste of time and energy; it'll certainly be totally ineffective if you imagine that someone else can control your Will. I'd rethink that theory if I were you.

(And yes, clearly their "influence" is having an effect: it's persuaded you that their influence has an effect.)

You can only be "pulled" in a direction that you decide to be pulled in. If your magick isn't working, examine what you're doing.

12:38 / 20.02.03

clench your right hand into a tight fist, slam it into your left hand and visualise a sphere of protection surrounding you like a force field. It works against curses, it works against prayers. Perhaps a spell to transmute their good intentions into energy you can use would be better, but if you feel you need a break that will provide a temporary respite. Set up a permanent sphere over your bed maybe, although that will probably block any beneficial influences you might get in your sleep too. You don't need a servitor.
More importantly, why not be open with them? Ask them to pray for your happiness instead of you obeying them, or doing specific things that they think are right. If that doesn't work try this- 'you cannot petition the Lord with prayer' (Jim Morrisson). For Him to listen and change his plans he would have to be wrong, and corrected by the person praying- is that hubris or what? What makes them think the Lord needs their advice? The only way prayer can be effective is if it focuses their intentions/will and changes the world. So they call it prayer, we call it magic. Ask them the difference between Miracles and Magic- aren't miracles just magic using a religious paradigm?
Trust me on the sphere of protection- it's short term but it works.

14:06 / 20.02.03

SM- I'd suggest that the very best thing you can do is get over the idea that your family can somehow persuade God to get you to do things that you're not otherwise inclined to do.

It doesn't necessarily have to be "God". Like Quantum says, what they're doing is still magick whether they know it or not. If I would've come in here and said that like 20 people were all casting sigils and sending servitors after me. You wouldn't have posted that, Stone Mirror. I understand where you're coming from but I've seen them so some pretty amazing shit with prayer alone.

Q- I'll try the bubble. It sounds easier than the servitor I was planning.

Dadaist- HAHAHAH, bastard!

15:10 / 20.02.03

You are being paranoid, Imp. I think, I think, that if you set up a force field you'll only reinforce the assault. This comes from someone that was tracked and hunted by his family in nightmarish dreams for over a year, and running only made them run faster, and shriek louder, like ugly orcs.

Chances are you are alreading dealing with this in dreams and even in waking, and also with the servitors or tulpas their prayers necessarily engender. Part of the sorcerer's path is to realise this, and since you are thinking of installing a force field then you have definitely become more sensitive to these forces.

Rather radical to the perspective of setting a force field against other forces, is the plan of dealing with them, and putting them to work for you, using them, or maybe even directing them towards other target that satisfies them. See, they are powers, arrows that were already shot, so you either find a bullseye for them, or you persuade them to go in the direction you want.

15:32 / 20.02.03

I think your response might depend on what they know and the specifics of what they're doing. If they know you're studying magick, then I would tend to believe that their prayers are blocking your efforts as well as trying to drag you back onto their path.

In any event, I would definitely set up two protected spaces. One should be your bedroom (I hope you're not sharing it with anybody). I'd do a hardcore banishing, based on the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and visualise each of the elements sweeping through your room and removing all influences. Then I'd walk around the room with something that has a physical "presence" and mark the walls or floor with a complete circle. It could be chalk, a bundle of some sort of herbs, or a stick of incense. I'd also walk a candle around the room in the same way and picture the light staying behind and making another protective circle, and maybe walk something else around as well. Got any noisemakers llike a bell or rattle?

The second protected space should be away from your house. Maybe a favorite seat in a coffee shop, or a friend's living room or a beautiful spot in the great outdoors. If you can, make a little mark with the chalk or leave a little bit of the herbs or a chunk of unburned incense - connect this place to your room, anchor that circle of safety to the new location as well. Then spend some time there, thoroughly enjoying yourself. Fill that spot with your presence and joy, visualize a gold glow over everything, look at everything there so you can visualize it perfectly when you're somewhere else.

You now have a secured room and a psychic escape hatch... Good luck!

16:46 / 20.02.03

Imp my friend, I'm not sure what the exact answer is here -- rather, I think there is no exact or precisely "correct" answer in this case (that's what my instincts tell me, at least). But I'm going to work some mojo for you, geared towards the notion that things work out for the best for you and that your family's prayers be transmuted into serving your Highest Good rather than specific goals they desire for you that you don't desire.

Their lack of support for your goals/desires also indicates a lack of trust in you (which doesn't sound like a deserved lack of trust; many conservative parents with control issues have this problem). They say they want what's best for you but they don't allow that being a writer or creative personality could really be what's best for you - rather, they want you to be a doctor lawyer some such thing like that (I'm guessing here). Would they disapprove of your goals as not worthy of you? Maybe you can work something to help them trust you and your goals as being what's best for you, rather than their apparent tendency to not trust you to know what's good for you. I'll look into that as well, Imp.

18:33 / 20.02.03

For me, my Tai Chi background largely affects how I would approach this sort of thing (and do, having been in similar circumstances). Transmutation is useful. Take the energies given you, and subtly redirect them to benefit yourself in ways more appropriate to you. Prayers to "find God" can be seen as modivation to experience higher gnostic states and further your understanding of reality through study of magick. Or learn the Quaballa. Pressure to join a church can be redirected to forming a magickal working group to enhance and benefit the spirituality of all involved. Pressure for morality can be turned to more practical ethics. Though most effective is actually talking to them so when they say "we want you to do THIS" you can say that you in fact are doing THAT, just doing it in your own way

22:39 / 20.02.03

Mr. Wolf, you guess right. A lot of the problems are stemming from my refusal to go to law school and this 'stupid' dream of mine to become a writer. Also the me not going to church and my bookshelf being lined with 'devil' books. But the later has been going on forever and it's no big deal. It's the former that's starting to become a bother.

22:43 / 20.02.03

Prayers to "find God" can be seen as modivation to experience higher gnostic states

Love that.