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Magick and cigarettes.

  
 
Trijhaos
23:12 / 15.07.02
I was going through a bunch of printouts and the like earlier today and I noticed that alot of them involved cigarettes in the ritual. Now, I don't smoke cigarettes and I'm not going to take up another addiction just to help me in some ritual work. I was curious, are there any alternatives to cigarettes that don't have nicotine, tar, and all that other nasty crap?
 
 
gravitybitch
03:22 / 16.07.02
Good question! I'm asthmatic, and cigarette smoke is really a problem for me... Some sort of substitute ritual to take the place of tobacco would be wonderful.
 
 
Stone Mirror
03:35 / 16.07.02
Modulo whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish precisely, I'd think incense of some sort could cover a fair distance. I'd need to know the specifics more.

A ceremonial magician I studied with commented to me that every time you smoked a cigarette, you were invoking Geburah into your chest...
 
 
Mystery Gypt
05:22 / 16.07.02
tobacco is consecrated to mars... i suppose you could find a parallel incense... you could also simply burn straight tobacco -- pipe tobacco or rolling tobacco from a smoke shop -- as you would sage or any other incense.

to the amazonian shamans, tobacco is actually an important smokeable in psychedelic vision quests and the like... they claim it is related to yage (related literally, as in the tobacco spirit is the mother of yage). makes you realize how fucked up our smoking tobacco has become since its original human consumption.

perhaps smoking cigarettes willfuly for rituals without developing an addiction is the sort of willpower challenge/ordeal one ought to go through in a magical pursuit.
 
 
illmatic
05:27 / 16.07.02
There's that Dragon's Blend stuff that you can get in some health food shops> Non-addictive. A friend of mine used it to smoke spliffs while he was giving up fags, I think Spare used to give up fags and used the frustration to power his sigils ie putting the wish on a bit of paper on his altar then giving up till it manifested - there's a bit about this in Steve Wilson's Chaos Ritual.
 
 
Ierne
13:43 / 16.07.02
If the ritual centers around the oral fixation, and not the tobacco or the smoke itself, you could substitute a lollipop, licorice or hard sour candy for the cigarette.
 
 
Sebastian
14:30 / 16.07.02
I was wondering, wouldn't there be a chance of being more powerful for a non-smoker to go ahead and smoke only in the ritual? It makes a different set and setting that for someone who smokes regularly.
 
 
cusm
19:24 / 16.07.02
Tobacco is really big in Voodoo and related afro-carribean trads as well. As an offering, its given for an increase in power. Cigars are also used for smudging, oddly enough.

Personally, I've kicked them, and I don't savor the 4 days of foul temper I get even after one smoke. So, I really don't fancy them in ritual myself either. But as a replacement, it would really depend on the working and the use. What purpose is it used for in the ritual? If you understand what its there for and what it does, you can more easily find a suitable tool to replace it. For the Loa, black coffie, rum, or gunpowder are usually good choices, depending on what you are doing.
 
 
Trijhaos
19:55 / 16.07.02
Here's a link to one of the workings. From what I can see, it seems to be a way of charging the watcher. I'm not quite sure exactly what to replace the cigarette with. Incense really doesn't seem appropriate in this case.
 
 
cusm
20:32 / 16.07.02
Aah. The working there is the blowing of the smoke from your mouth while intoning the words. I would suggest blowing rum instead for the same type of energetic charge, but the chanting is lost that way. So, the actual content of the cigarette is less important than its function.

I'd just replace it with an herbal. Ever see ginsing cigarettes? They have no tobacco, give you a nice head rush, smell awful, and sting the eyes. Should be perfect for this.
 
 
Trijhaos
20:37 / 16.07.02
I've never heard of ginseng cigarettes. Where would I go about acquiring some, other than an online retailer. There's a coffee/tobacco shop in the mall, but I'm not sure exactly what they sell other than coffee, pipes, and pipe tobacco.
 
 
cusm
21:10 / 16.07.02
Check the smoke shops, ones that carry imports and other stuff not directly tobacco related like cloves. Ask around if they carry herbals at the mall, someone might be able to point you to a smoke shop that does. Try also any sort of head shop in your area, newagey occult shop, or anything 'hippy'. I used to smoke a fine brand of non tobacco clove called Honeyrose when I needed the oral fixation of a smoke. Those are pretty common, so its one you can ask for.
 
 
Wrecks City-Zen
23:37 / 16.07.02
Hey Trijhaos!
How very John Constantine of you.

Tobacco is used mostly in workings with Mars...so you could always use it like an incence and...

ah who am i kidding.

I just want you to show me your spells you were pondering over.

Please.?.?.?
 
 
Trijhaos
01:05 / 17.07.02
Oh yeah, that's me, the John Constatine of the American South.

The watcher conjuration I linked above is really the only one I've thought about doing, but there's a few others that are floating around the back of my head that would probably be made easier with the use of cigarettes/tobacco. They aren't very fleshed out right now, so there's not much to show you.

There's one smoke shop in the mall and a small health food shop, I don't know if they'll be any help, but it's worth a shot. The only new-agey, occult type shop around here really only sells books and tapes, but they may sell other stuff. I really didn't get a good look at everything because the people behind the counter kept looking at me like I was sort of serial killer, robber, or bit of trash they had stepped on. It wasn't exactly a friendly environment.
 
 
Professor Silly
05:49 / 17.07.02
According to 777:

BURNING tobacco, like an incense, invokes Geburah/Mars and would be associated with The Vision of Power

SMOKING tobacco, like a drug, invokes Vulcan and would be associated with Works of Justice and Equilibrium

I'm not familier with VooDoo and the like--I've never seen a ritual that involved smoking tobacco. What other practices use the act of smoking?
 
 
grant
13:49 / 17.07.02
Trijhaos: try a health food store.
 
 
Papess
18:21 / 17.07.02
Hi Trijhoas

A few years ago when I was a a non-cigarette-smoker, I found in a herbal book that mullein when smoked, is actually good for your the lungs. It was a book about Native North American herbs and their uses as consummed by the Aboriganal Peoples. I forgot the title now. Anyway, I do not know if the cross-references for tobacco and mullien are the same (I don't think so actually) but, if it is just an effect of smoking and/or smoke you need, mullein might be a healthier choice.

Love
~May Tricks
 
 
Papess
22:15 / 17.07.02
Oops, sorry for the spelling error on your name Trijhaos!
~MT
 
 
Wrecks City-Zen
23:23 / 19.07.02
My own tabacco magic...

While waiting for a bus, remove a cigarette from pack and proceed to light.After taking 3 pulls, your bus should be there...!

Ever thought about marijuanna? What effetcts would those produce (magically) I wonder?
 
 
Trijhaos
23:49 / 19.07.02
I've thought about marijuana, but a few things get in the way. The main problem is finances. I have no money at all. Any money I get goes straight into the gas tank. The secondary problem is availability. I have absolutely no idea where to get any. I know one guy who may have some, but I haven't spoken to him in years even though he lives right across the street. It'd be a bit weird going over there after 4 years of not speaking and saying something like, "Hey! I know you know where to get marijuana. Do you think you could get me some".
 
  
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