BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


"Stupid" magick, religion and spirituality questions

 
  

Page: 1 ... 7778798081(82)83

 
 
EvskiG
04:38 / 20.06.08
Right so, what things would you like the team to keep in mind, what things do you think the watching public need to learn, please hit me with your feedback.

Never heard of Legend Tripping before, but you might want to get people into the spirit of the thing -- and give 'em some sense of what they might encounter -- by passing around Weird New England.

Brought to you by two guys from my hometown, the same folks who have been doing Weird NJ for almost twenty years. (Oh, and it looks like they just released Weird England.)

Also, you might want to gently warn people that they could get hurt. In several different ways (depending on where you go), from falling into the basement of an abandoned building to coming back Not Quite Right.
 
 
grant
13:53 / 20.06.08
We get review copies of those Weird books at work -- they've collected a best-of into Weird USA.

I kind of prefer Loren Coleman's stuff (I loved skimming through Mysterious America recently), but I have to admit that the Weird books do look great and cover a lot of ground.
 
 
Ticker
15:01 / 23.06.08
Thanks, Ev. Yeah I did the prep for a hiking trip - water, food, emergency routes, emergency contacts, emergency info left with someone not going with, first aid kit along for the trip - and the required fallout info. When the team does its first trial run I'm going to review pre and post prep requirements and support issues.

I like the Weird books. Loren does great field work but he needs to learn appropriate behavior around women. I'm still pissed off about how he behaved at the UnCon we both attended.
 
 
Internaut
00:50 / 05.08.08
What, kind 'lithers, is the significance of feathers, if any?

For a little over a month, all types of feathers have been drifting down towards me at the perfect moment. I seem to spot them just in time to snatch them out of the air, without my step even faltering.

It's been around one or two feathers a day, with a few discrepencies.

thoughts?
 
 
Liger Null
02:14 / 05.08.08
Sounds like moulting season.
 
 
EmberLeo
19:16 / 05.08.08
Ha! Yes, it may just be the passing of season.

I don't know the significance, but I know that in Native American (well, at least in Lakota, but others have said similar to me) Feathers are considered quite spiritually valuable. What value depends on which bird it came from. Owl feathers are bad, as owls are connected with death. Eagle and Hawk feathers are good, though, but I'm not sure in what way other than being powerful.

I have no idea at all what significance other kinds of feathers would have to them.

Personally, I also take it as depending on what kind of bird shed the feather. Unless its location is extremely dramatic, I don't read omens into feathers of really common birds. I'm surrounded by corvids, gulls, pigeons, and mourning doves - and, oddly enough, green parrots. Finding their feathers is not all that significant - "the usual birds were here" may well be a message, but it's not a message I need to take note of every day.

But I might take an unusual hawk or falcon feather as a note that I should make a point of talking with Freya soon, since those birds are Hers. A corvid feather in a significant place might prompt me to see if Odin or The Morrigan wanted my attention.

The point not being that all birds lead to gods, but that each bird has its own associations, including that they are beings in their own right. My first thought is so the relationships I already have, and I don't happen to have established relationships with any bird spirits. If I did, I'd start there.

--Ember--
 
 
Ticker
19:57 / 03.09.08
So you are writing a fantasy novel and thinking about how a magical system might work. If you know, that sort of thing could happen. Because obviously, magic isn't real.


I can't help it, I think it's utterly hilarious that these folks have no clue about something that is such a massive part of many of our lives.
 
 
Ganagati
12:35 / 04.09.08
Nice.
 
 
archim3des
06:14 / 19.10.08
sounds like Mage the Ascension.
Damn paradox.
 
 
Quantum
16:40 / 30.10.08
Funny, I was going to say that.
 
 
EmberLeo
06:55 / 13.11.08
Belatedly pertinent: The latest issue of Circle magazine (which I saw wandering the bookstore earlier this evening) is focused on feathers.

http://www.circlesanctuary.org/circle/

--Ember--
 
 
whatever
03:46 / 01.12.08
i've been seeing the number 23 a lot. the last time i put this much stock into it, and having it appear over and over was when i went through the invisibles for the first time. i know. dorky. but that experience completely initiated a huge period of growth and change and challenges for me, and i've sort of been feeling like things are coming to the peak of or about to begin another cycle independently of the recurrences.

so, is there something i should be doing to rightly receive and benefit from this process? am i just seeing it because i want to see it?

by the way, this is only here because i couldn't find a "really stupid" topic. i totally understand if this is met with silence.
 
 
Evil Scientist
09:11 / 01.12.08
does it matter in any way that i'm seeing the number 23 a lot?

Not answering from a magical viewpoint but I would guess that at least part of it is that the number has a certain relevance to you that other ones don't. I'm not aware of 52 having any particular significance but, ever since reading the comic of the same name, I see it a lot more often.

That said, from what I gather, spotting patterns in the world is quite an important part of practising magic. At the recommendation of one of the regulars I spent a few months looking for certain patterns (pennies on the street I believe was one) and it does remind you of how much information you filter out when you're not paying attention.
 
 
grant
16:41 / 01.12.08
You may be interested in reading about selection bias and the recognition heuristic.

Yeah, we look for patterns. Significance. Is there something you should do with this?

Well, sure, if you're interested in significance. What are the angels of your nature trying to get you to notice?
 
 
EmberLeo
19:23 / 01.12.08
Given that my only association with the number 23 is Discordian, I find the question of whether finding them a lot indicates a significant pattern kind of ironic.

--Ember--
 
 
Eek! A Freek!
19:34 / 01.12.08
Were Burroughs and Gysin associated at all with the Discordians? I believe that Burroughs in particular picked up on the whole 23 thing before Wilson or even the Precipia Discordia...
I could be wrong, though...
 
 
EmberLeo
09:37 / 03.12.08
I have no idea - I've never cared enough about the number 23 to go digging. I pay mild attention to numbers, but I've had the idea that written numbers aren't really what they seem to be because 25 DEC = 31 OCT and it's the relationship between the variables that matter, not the concrete values assigned to them.

But that doesn't stop me from noticing whenever I see 3, 13, 17, 117, or other numbers I consider personally significant, so who am I to complain?

*laughs at herself* Okay, that's funny. I just arbitrarily punched "17" into my calculator as HEX, and then switched to DEC and what did I get?

23!

--Ember--
 
 
whatever
05:27 / 06.12.08
thank you for responses. stopped seeing it soon after my post. guess i got it out of my system.
 
 
Papess
20:25 / 09.12.08
Ever wonder if your spell is useless? Here is a list for you of 396 Usless Spells!
 
 
LykeX
14:55 / 10.12.08
I don't know. There are a few spells that are useful on that list, like Create Coat Hanger and Cure STD. Personally, I'm all for Melf's acid trip.
 
 
EmberLeo
19:15 / 10.12.08
You know, there was that one yule we made special bread just for Freyr... I think I know how to cast that "animate bread" spell.

It's not useless, per se, it's just a very... particular... use... if you know what I mean

--Ember--
 
 
Liger Null
23:50 / 21.12.08
Uhh...I guess...

 
 
simulated stereo
04:52 / 22.12.08
OK, I don't have really any experience with, or know anyone who practices magick. Over the past few months or so I've been interested in learning more about it. The only text I have is peter Carroll's Psychonaut. I guess my question is: for those of you who practice, what do you get out of it? How has it changed you?
 
 
electric monk
12:29 / 22.12.08
There are some threads that address those questions here and here. I think there might be others around, but I couldn't find them.

I think you should probably just get on with it, frankly, if you're interested in my humble opinion. There are a couple of rituals in Psychonaut you can try out. Go and do. And if Carroll trips your trigger, get Liber Null. 'S a better working text.
 
 
simulated stereo
21:24 / 24.12.08
I just wanted to say thanks to Finklestein. I guess if my search-fu was worth anything I could have found those threads myself. But they were both really great reads and very informative. Looks like I'm on the path.
 
 
electric monk
18:25 / 29.12.08
Yr welcome. The 'lith search function is pretty shit, so you really have to know the names of threads you're looking for if you want to get anywhere. Glad to hear they were helpful to you.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
17:42 / 04.01.09
Isn't Pete Carroll basically a nutter, though?
 
 
johnny enigma
14:29 / 31.03.09
What do I get out of practising magic?

Broadly speaking, I get a deeper, richer understanding of the universe and my role in it. I have a better understanding of my own mind and how my intuition works, making my intuition stronger. On a day to day level, I think this is the biggest thing that magic has given to me.

My practise is generally quite haphazard and is part of my on/off lifelong "search for truth" - what's generally called magic nowadays has led me to a spiritual practise I am comfortable with. Though I am neither rich or famous, I seem to have a life alot of people are jealous of - I think that magic has played a large role in this.

At times it's led me face some dark parts of myself - but those parts of me were always part of me anyway. It's also made me massively aware of the magic that surrounds us everyday.

I hope this helps. I know nothing of the work of Peter Carroll, but I can do know that barbelith is a good place to look for more information.
 
 
Hawthorn
12:14 / 02.07.09
I am considering using fairly heavy magick (sp?) and am looking for outside opinions first.

I know I've already asked you this Ember and I respect your opinion but I'm also interested in breadth of insight.

Sorry if this is tmi but my question requires quite a bit of background.

Four years ago my mother finally cut the ties to her emotionally abusive husband and is living separately, to the benefit of her and my brother. Things have always been shaky for my father but since this blow he's really gone downhill. He's been out of work for years because an exasperated coworker has been spreading defamatory rumours to potential employers. Dad alienates himself from anyone attempting to help him. he keeps himself confined to the house.

His father still manipulates him and robs him of any self esteem, and is getting feebler and needing more care. My mother, while trying to disentangle herself from the ashes of her marriage is still the only one who can communicate with my father in a way he'll respect. Mom says she's concerned and she doesn't know what to do, which really brought it home to me because she isn't easily shaken.

I myself have spent many years trying to heal and separate myself from the influence of my father, and I feel I've come a long way in building any self confidence, social skills the like. recently I've sent him a few letters which he reads, appreciates and does not reply to. Right now I'm restoring some of the gardens on the property to help my mother sell the house. I hope that along with improving family finances the change of scene will jolt my father into some sort of sanity, maturity or progress of time.

Other than that I'm resorting to magick. I've prayed for healing to several entities, and am considering drum circles, the like. I'm worried that such might be too little too late.

Some of you might be aware that I'm dedicated to the Morrigan. This strikes me as an occasion for such profound change as I know She can deliver. Perhaps I'm biased in wanting to take action of that sort.

At the very least I'm sure there would be some sort of crisis in the short term that will ultimately be worthwhile for us all in the long term but really suck in the short term. I'm just afraid that calling on this sort of change would bring about things like a death in the family, arson, addiction, withdrawal of an addiction, a skeleton in the closet revealed, an assault on someone, a theft, or the like.

I've been assured that it's nobody's time to die yet but the truth can be a slippery thing.

I'm very enmeshed in this and am interested in other opinions. Are there alternatives I haven't thought of? Precautions I can take? Is it as bad as it seems?
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
11:22 / 06.07.09
If you have a relationship with the Morrigan, to the extent that you consider her your patron, you should be talking to her about the specifics of this and getting feedback on the minutia of the situation and how she may be able to help you with it. I'd say your error here is in approaching the potential deity work as a spin of the roulette wheel, where you dump the problem on the doorstep of deity, run away, cross your fingers and hope for the best – as opposed to an intimate process of back and forth between you and the deity, where you consult, ask advice, and through this two-way dialogue, arrive at a working or series of workings tailored to the specifics of the situation at hand.

If you are dedicated to a deity (whatever that actually means in your particular context), you should have the sort of intimacy where you talk to them about your major life stuff – but whether or not you end up doing some work for this situation on their point and under their auspices should really be led by them. Talk to her about it as a problem, seeking advice on how to proceed, not asking her to commit to a course of action just yet, and see what response you get back. Go from there.

Although I'd say this is something you want to be talking to your ancestors about, primarily, before you take it to deity.
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
13:42 / 06.07.09
I think you are almost certainly bringing a lot of fear and anxiety into this, due to being so immersed in the situation, which is probably not going to help the magic. You describe it as "heavy work" and talk about people potentially dying as a result, but your intent – as far as I can tell – actually just seems to be to get your dad to sort himself out. Looking at it from an outside perspective, there's a lot of dissonance going on here between the actuality of a working to sort out a wayward family member, and all of the fear and death and horror that you seem to be wrapping it up in.

It's not terribly clear from your post above what it is that you want to happen in a best case scenario. It reads like a miasma of lots of different interrelated things, which you're trying to solve with another miasma of "heavy" but very undirected magic. The place to start, before you go to deity, would be to get your ultimate intent clear and unmuddied in your head. The basics of what you want to happen. However, to do that, it's often better to try and break the problem down into its smaller component parts and work on each of these as a separate item. One obvious thing would be to make a doll of your dad and do a binding or even a series of cooling works on him. Another angle might be to look at what unhelpful practical situations are surrounding him or other family members and exacerbating aspects of the problem. What sort of work could be done to change that general landscape?

Effective sorcery is often about understanding the various angles of approach, and figuring out what levers you can pull to get things moving in a more positive direction. As opposed to looking at the problem as one massive thing that swamps you, and which you try to sort out with an unfocused generic cry for help to a deity whose connection to this sort of work is tangential at best. Break it down into smaller chunks, and work on the things that are achievable and measurable, rather than just sending vague prayers for "healing" towards something that's probably rather complex and will require more focused untangling.

Importantly, there is a strong subtext to your post that seems to want, at least on some level, for some violent crisis to occur in this situation and sort everything out. You say you don't want that, but the way you talk about it tells a different story. Your tone of voice is practically hungering for your fierce and terrible Goddess to swoop down on this problem and rend it into pieces. You might want to engage with some of this before you take that to the Morrigan. There are almost certainly other ways to tackle the domestic situation/s you describe, apart from tapping into all of your suppressed childhood rage and serving it to a death Goddess...

Regular weekly ancestor work, a doll of your dad that you do some uncrossing or even some blessing work on, some magic to get him into a new job, something to tie up the mouth of the person that is spreading rumours about him, some work to make the sale of the house go through quickly and smoothly, some work to get him into a more positive environment, stuff buried in the ground of the place where he moves that will bring a positive influence, and probably some basic cleansing baths for you - as it comes across that this is taking its toll on you – and a healthy daily practice that will nourish and ground you a bit more.

Sorcery should not be something that you "resort to", but a very basic healthy way of engaging with life's challenges. There's all sorts of stuff that you could do in this situation, but you're probably not going to get very far unless you break it down into it's component parts and tackle each one individually in this sort of way. Hope some of that is useful.
 
 
Never or Now!
00:56 / 13.07.09
Gypsy Lantern - If I remember right, the author's bio in "Generation Hex" said something about a book due out from you. Was that ever released? If so, who what when where why? If not, is it still happening?
 
 
Evil Scientist
08:31 / 18.09.11
Bump
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
13:01 / 12.10.11
Manuscript is 80% finished...
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
13:02 / 12.10.11
Just realised that was a question from 2 years ago...
 
  

Page: 1 ... 7778798081(82)83

 
  
Add Your Reply