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Inferior

solid~liquid onwards

11:49 / 07.05.02

my school libary is selling off loads of older books (for 10p each

and i just got myself "shadows of the supernatrual", a guide to popular religion. i read through the bit on the Occult and this passage came up

The second thing that needs to be said is that often those who become involved with satanism, or magic for that matte, are people who feel stronly inferior and need to imagine that they have some source of compensating power

i myself just dabble in magic a bit, when i have time, in holidays and such, and got involved, when i did a version of the zenner test, for a laugh, and could consistently score highly, and practiced with my brother and a friend (who both eventualy got a bit freaked out and stopped :P) and i became quite good, where sceptical friends were convinced i was cheating rather than being lucky. which led me onto more solitary stuff, like psychokinesis (which i was never really good at) and OBE/astral projection (which i can do, although i havent practiced properly for a long time.

well anyways, heres the thing, are you all involved in magic because your all inadequete people, or was it some kind of calling, or did you perhaps read something, or experience something?

12:08 / 07.05.02

Let the ego stroking start !!

"oh I've always been magickal since the very start, when I was born a wild boar broke into the hospital and took guard under my little bed, it wouldn't let anyone near me"

eXcuse me, nah I always thought something was going on. It started with weird little things, thinking about a movie and I hadn't seen and then finding out it was on the following week - and then if anyone used to piss me off I used to try and focus my anger onto them, bad things always seemed to happen to them...

this was all in my early teens or before, I started reading about magic/ufo's anything paranormal pretty much like your "shadows of the supernatrual" book.

It wasn't until a couple of years ago (i think) I heard about Chaos magic, things seemed to snowball from there...

solid~liquid onwards

14:08 / 07.05.02

ive got a few of these kindsa books lying around, generally pretty lame and very generalised, but you can find the odd gem's... which reminds me... im doing the cliched (that how you spel it) student trip round europe in the summer with some friends, and were all chosing some places to visit, anyone know much about the federation of Damanhur, i seem to remember them being some culty thing in italy..i'll go and have a search, but has anyone had experience of them, or know people who go there?

14:56 / 07.05.02

That is quite a loaded passage from your book sttab. I think the context it is stated in would be helpful. If it is refering to using magick in order to have power over others, I might even agree with it! However, using magick to learn about ourselves and gain control over our own egos and become self-aware does not imply an inferiority complex but, quite the opposite.

My own personal reasons for delving into the magickal arts is a combination of curiousity and a nagging suspicion that the universe is alot more than what meets the eye. IMHO, There just has to be some transendant force that is in everything. I just find exsistence too miraculous to be confined to mere mundane aspects alone. Magick best descibes the inter-connectedness I get glimpses of sometimes. By using magick, for both inner and outer practices, I can learn about and connect with that omnipotence but, I would never confuse myself by thinking I was omnipotent! I am a small and insignificant speck on the Diamond that is All.

I do not know who the author is of this book is but, I think there is a definate bias in their opinions. After all, in many ways, organized religions often include aspects of magick in their practice such as "petitioning the lord through prayer" (to steal a line from the late Jim Morrison). This is a magickal practice, as is the ceremony of baptism or a bar-mitzvah.

In short though, I think that if magick is practiced as empowering and not overpowering it is a sign of a healthy, balanced ego.

Thank you for making me think about my motivations sttab, this is always good to review. To be honest, I do feel power when I use magick but that power is not me. If I consistently remind myself through meditation and observation of this, I can keep my ego in check and do what is my True Will in the scheme of things.

~May Tricks

15:10 / 07.05.02

May are you actually very very very evil?? You seem far too nice, its starting to freak me out a little :P

Tryphena Absent

15:25 / 07.05.02

You know, reading what Ursavus had to say got me thinking, years ago I was standing in this shop in Watford. Mystical supplies - stuff like that - and this man came in and asked how you re-energise a crystal. I looked at him and this information popped in to my head. The woman behind the counter started going on about salt and water and I thought, no there's an easier way. Now I have absolutely nothing to do with crystals, gems and precious stones whatsoever: my thing is fire magic at new moon. I just knew that you should bury the fuckers in the earth. She didn't. What was she doing working there if she had absolutely no instinct for this kind of thing and why the hell did I know. That is why I'm a witch and why, despite never practising anymore, I will always be one somewhere inside.

17:45 / 07.05.02

Damn, you caught me! My evil plan takes hold!

AAAHAHAHAHAHA rubs hands together in a sinister manner...darts eyes around

How freaked out are you now Ursavus?

~May Tricks

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

21:56 / 08.05.02

I've been interested for as long as I can remember, which is more than likely due to the fact that my parent's would not allow anything remotely occult into the house. So naturally I got interested.

13:12 / 09.05.02

That is why I'm a witch and why, despite never practising anymore, I will always be one somewhere inside. – Janina

I found your comment really interesting, Janina. I think that one's practice changes as one grows, lives and experiences – it becomes something you are instead of something you do. I don't do rituals on a regular basis the way I did in my twenties, and I don't practice my divination skills as often as I used to (and perhaps should!

) but I still feel an attunement with my surroundings that comes with Magickal awareness.

Not everyone can be a Witch, or can handle Magick; those who can – and know how – do so no matter what they are doing.

16:06 / 09.05.02

as has been said - *stuff* has happened to me since i was very young that has been pointing me in the direction of magick, but i have had too many other things to deal with in my life that have rather got in the way (although perhaps these things have been lessons in preparation). but recently some very powerful things have happened - like the 'revelation' i had which i described here recently - and it's like i'm getting a tap on the shoulder to follow this path. i feel strong and ready for it - certainly not inferior!

solid~liquid onwards

19:55 / 09.05.02

i was convinced i was abducted by aliens. well i dunno if i actually was, but i saw a flying saucer fly past and then my mum came outside and told me to come inside, because it was dinner time, but i had only just had lunch (microwaveable cheeseburger) this happened when i was younger (pre x-files before someone mentions them) but its gotten all confused and im not sure if it really did happen, or if its just a confused lucid dream i had when i was seven, but it is one of the few things i can remember clearly from back then :P

there was always deja vu and such like, but that happens to everyone.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

21:05 / 09.05.02

those who become involved with satanism, or magic for that matter, are people who feel strongly inferior and need to imagine that they have some source of compensating power

Niiiice. Emotional bullying, anyone? (Not you, sttab- the author of the book.)

Inferior: now there's a loaded term. How about... feelings of powerlessness which are completely justified? How about times in a person's life when they genuinely don't have access to any other resource besides magick?

Just a thought.

solid~liquid onwards

19:47 / 10.05.02

that was based on the findings of some psychology proffesor who infultrated a satanic group inj the 60's...read a good book al0ong those lines a while ago :P.

i dont like the sound of the last option idea... brings up conotations of dealing with the devil for some reason

20:02 / 10.05.02

the quote brings up visions of bitter, sad little people trying to get their own back on the big, bad world. as mc says, some are justified in feeling powerless, but magick can surely help change this situation in a positive way.

13:19 / 11.05.02

and surely things other than magick can compensate for a lack of power, perceived or otherwise? You could make the same claim for someone's career for goodness sake...