Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!postnews.google.com!news4.google.com!out04a.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in01.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!news-xfer.nntp.sonic.net!posts.news.sonic.net!nnrp0.nntp.sonic.net!not-for-mail
Newsgroups: alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan.magick,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: FAQ - alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic (Frequently Asked Questions)
Approved:
[email protected]
Followup-To: alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic,alt.magick.tyagi
Summary: This is the alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ.
It was based on and adapted from the alt.magick FAQ,
with permission. This FAQ is intended as an
introductory file and its content may be discussed
within the alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic usenet
newsgroup.
Replaces: 200011
From:
[email protected] (cat)
Reply-to: cat (
[email protected])
User-Agent: nn/6.6.5
Date: 26 Aug 2007 05:32:10 GMT
Lines: 1083
Message-ID: <
[email protected]>
Organization: Sonic.Net
NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Aug 2007 05:32:10 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: c61b30b0.news.sonic.net
X-Trace: DXC=9B0R=<BoeQT_dQhaIKYMKTm4K\QM1CV^P1OYf0H`?;XQZj8mY:FDQmX:oF=1i9HD6Ti80`N3:L:]ZBKYo0@^PHI\
X-Complaints-To:
[email protected]
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic:32535 alt.magick:501898 alt.magick.tyagi:54557 alt.pagan.magick:40204 alt.answers:83669 news.answers:315430
Archive-name: magick/paranormal/spells-hexes-magic/faq
Version: 200107
Posting-frequency: monthly or by inquiry
Location:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/apshmfaq.html
CONTENTS
00 FOREWORD
_______________________________________________________________
10 NEWSGROUP
11 Why do some people spell magick with a K?
12 What is a spell? What is a hex?
13 I don't read newsgroups; will you send me spells by e-mail?
14 Shouldn't there be limits to what people can post here?
_______________________________________________________________
20 SUBJECT
21 What is magic(k)?
22 A Is magic real, how does it work, what influences it?
B Is magic compatible with modern Science?
C How are magic & religion/mysticism related or different?
D Can I be cursed even if I don't believe in magic?
23 A Is magic black or white? Should we do black magic?
B What about the "Three-Fold Law of Return"?
24 Is spell casting guaranteed to produce results?
25 A When casting a spell is there always an incantation?
B Is Latin really the most powerful spell casting language?
C Should I create my own spells or follow old ones exactly?
26 Is animal sacrifice common in spell-casting?
27 Can you really invoke Gods, evoke demons, summon the dead?
28 Is there a spell that actually turns you invisible? (etc.)?
29 Can spell casting heal the sick or kill a healthy person?
_______________________________________________________________
30 STUDIES
31 How should I start learning about magic? teachers?
32 What are the best books for a beginner to read?
33 Where is online information about magic to be found?
_______________________________________________________________
40 SPELL COMPILATIONS
41 Love and Lust
42 Hexing, Cursing, and Death
43 Summoning Demons and Making Infernal Pacts
44 Fortune and Money-Bringing Spells
45 Purification, Blessing, and Protection
46 Court Cases and Legal Matters
_______________________________________________________________
50 REFERENCES AND REFERRALS
51 Archives
52 Other magic-Related E-Lists and Newsgroups
53 Card Game Magic (e.g. 'The Obsession')
54 Role-Playing Game Spellcasting
_______________________________________________________________
60 AFTERWORD
61 Footnotes
62 Credits
63 Copyrights
================================================================
00 FOREWORD
The alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ may be obtained at:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/apshmfaq.html
================================================================
10 NEWSGROUP
This section pertains to the most commonly asked questions
about the newsgroup itself; specifically the newsgroup's
name and its customs.
Alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic is part of the
alt.paranormal.* hierarchy. Other newsgroups in this
lineage -- with descriptions taken from their entries at
http://www.tile.net/news/paranormal.html -- include
news:alt.paranormal
("phenomena which are not scientifically explicable")
news:alt.paranormal.channeling
("spiritual mediumship, channeling and channelers"),
news:alt.paranormal.crop-circles
("a discussion of crop circles")
news:alt.paranormal.pyramid
("theories on mystic aspects of pyramids").
11 Why do you some people spell magick with a K?
The reason for the two spellings -- on the internet --
is that computers need differing spelling to distinguish
between two files. Some time back in the early 1990s,
the usage of "magic" for stage magic and "magick" for
mystical-ritual-supernatural practices was adopted by
general consensus.
This newsgroup, alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic, is one of
the older in usenet and was created BEFORE the
magic-with-a-k spelling rule was agreed upon. Later,
alt.magick and its derivatives were created with a 'k' to
avoid confusion with stage magic. *01
"Magick" is a spelling popularly associated with Aleister
Crowley, yet the spelling precedes him by hundreds of
years. As he used it, however, the word did not relate
to magic, but rather to Crowley's own personal form of
spirituality. *02
Tom Schuler (
[email protected]) supplied this quotation
from Crowley's writing that explains why Crowleyan
"magick" is actually about spirituality, not "magic":
"In my third year at Cambridge, I devoted myself
consciously to the Great Work, understanding thereby
the Work of becoming a Spiritual Being, free from
the constraints, accidents, and deceptions of
material existence. I found myself at a loss for
a name to designate my work, just as H. P. Blavatsky
some years earlier. "Theosophy", "Spiritualism",
"Occultism", "Mysticism", all involved undesirable
connotations. I chose therefore the name "MAGICK"
as essentially the most sublime, and actually the
most discredited, of all the available terms. I
swore to rehabilitate MAGICK, to identify it with
my own career; and to compel mankind to respect,
love, and trust that which they scorned, hated and
feared. I have kept my Word."
-- "Magick in Theory and Practice"
by Aleister Crowley (pages XI-XII) *03
12 What is a spell? What is a hex? ?
Generally speaking, a magical spell is a formula that may
involve spoken, written, or chanted words; symbolic
enactments; candle burning; ritual baths; burning of
incense; sprinkling of powders, salts, or dusts; and/or the
manufacture and deployment of charms, amulets, or talismans.
The purposes of spells are varied. They include "drawing" or
wish-fulfillment in regard to love, money, and good fortune;
apotropaic, "banishing" or "drive-away" spells for ridding
oneself of unwanted influences; "jinxing," "crossing," or
"cursing" spells to bring bad luck or harm to another,
"binding" spells to keep someone's magic from affecting
you or others, and "summoning" spells to call up spirits,
ghosts, or even demons.
"Hex" comes from the German word for witchery or sorcery,
"Hexencraft." It is a regionally popular word in America's
Pennsylvania Dutch country, where it refers to a symbolic
drawing (usually a six-sided figure in a circle, related to
the Greek word "hex," or "six," as in "hexagon"). Hexes
are made to protect farm animals to draw love, to symbolize
and strengthen a marriage, or to break a curse. The term
hexencraft (the making of hexes) has a different meaning
in Pennsylvania Dutch than in German, where it refers to
magical spells in general, and may also include medical
herbology. One who makes hexes is a "hexmeister"
(hex-master).
You may have been told or have read in a dictionary that
the "hexes" of Pennsylvania Dutch folk-magic are evil or
malign in intention. People say the same thing about
African-American hoodoo and European witchcraft --
they use the words hex and hoodoo and bewitch as verbs
synonymous with "curse" or "magically harm," leaving off
any mention of the love spells, prosperity spells, animal
fertility spells, or home protection spells that are
worked in these traditions. This is not done out of
malice but because they are describing essentially
alien cultures to their own and they have not bothered
to research the subject thoroughly
Luckily, vocabulary-ignorance only affects the people
who are misusing a word -- it doesn't infect the actual
culture in which the term originated. Thus, if you were
to go to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, right now and ask
for a hex, you would not be given a curse, you would be
given the Pennsylvaia Dutch version of a sigil, talisman,
veve, or seal -- a six-sided geometrical image to be
used for magical purposes.
In some regions (e.g. in the Ozarks) hexencraft or
Germanic-rooted peasant-style folk-magic is called
"Pow-Wow magic" after the book "Pow-Wows or the Long Lost
Friend" first published in 1820 in Pennsylvania (in German)
and then in English in the 1840s. "Pow-Wow magic" --
that is, Ozarks-style hexencraft -- forms one of the
bases for the Faerie (or Feri) Tradition of Neo-Paganism
transmitted by Victor and Cora Anderson.
"Hoodoo," "conjure" (or "conjuration"), "rootwork," and
"laying down tricks" are also regionally popular terms
for spell-casting, either benevolent and malevolent. They
come from the African-American culture and are common
terms all over the United States in the black community.
Italian spell-craft is called stregharia. In Mexico the
word is brujeria, usually translated as "witchcraft."
13 I don't read newsgroups. Will people send me spells by email?
Newcomers to usenet newsgroups ("newbies") often fail to
understand that these are discussion groups, not sources of
free goodies. People who post to a newsgroup only to ask for
information to be sent to them via email are sometimes thought
of by usenet regulars as "parasitic posters" and are said to
"post and run." If you want to learn from and meet other
people who regularly read and post to the group, please
stick around and participate.
Likewise, if you ask for and receive advice or spells in the
newsgroup, it is courteous to reply with a "thank you."
14 Shouldn't there be limits to what people can post here?
This newsgroup has existed for many years as a place for
people to exchange information about spells and
spell-casting. Occasionally, people with a dogmatic
religious background (for instance in Christianity or
Wicca) post abusive messages about the sorts of spells
that are "acceptable," but the group generally ignores
them and moves on.
For those interested in specific forms of magic that may
or may not be attached to spell-casting, there are many
newsgroups to which discussion can be taken if you wish
to cooperate with newsgroup regulars. Here are a few
such discussion-oriented newsgroups to get you started:
news:alt.lucky.w (lucky charms, amulets, folk-magic, hoodoo)
news:alt.magick (general and ceremonial magic and occultism)
news:alt.magick.chaos (chaos-magic)
news:alt.magick.ethics (the ethics of magical practice)
news:alt.magick.folk (folk-magic)
news:alt.magick.marketplace (magical tools and books for sale)
news:alt.magick.order (magical orders and fraternities)
news:alt.magick.tantra (sex-magic and tantra)
news:alt.magick.tyagi (magic, mysticism, philosophy, religion)
news:alt.occult.methods (practical techniques of occultists)
There is a far more comprehensive list of occult-related
(but not necessarily magic-related) newsgroups in the
document called The Mage's Guide to the Internet (MaGI) at
http://www.luckymojo.com/magi/
-- and that list is partially reproduced in this document
at Question 52.
================================================================
20 SUBJECT
A few questions about spell-casting arise with
regularity. Some concern an analysis of magic,
its workings and principles, and its relationship to
science and religion. Others attempt to establish
definitive guidelines governing the morality of
spell-work.
21 What is magic(k)?
Magic has been defined by many people in many different
ways. Aleister Crowley defined it as "the Science and Art
of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will" *03
and many people today who do not consider themselves
followers of Crowley still use that definition.
Some see magic as a kind of energy which pervades the cosmos.
Others see it as a psychic tool by which we may influence the
material world using symbols and ritual. Many see it as a
means of coming to unite with the divine, some consider
it to be the exercise of will or Will, or the manipulation
of reality.
Whatever the word means, 'magic' is the subject, generally,
of the newsgroup, and will likely be given many differing and
contradictory meanings during discussions there.
22A Is magic real, how does it work, what influences it?
Many have suggested the differentiation of magical 'currents'
or 'energies' based on style and/or intent. Some posit the
notion of principles, a la scientific structure, 'laws of
magic' and what-not. Others approach it more subjectively,
considering all knowledge about the elements of magic to be
personal and therefore particular only to the individual
condition, variable of form.
All of these are popular responses to this question, though
more inventive theories would be welcomed. Conventional
approaches may be cross-posted to
news:sci.philosophy.meta.
Chameleon (mailto:
[email protected]), a
self-professed "newbie," put the question this way,
in regard to casting spells:
"I have a couple magic books at home and have
read through them. A lot of them use a type of
hypnosis to channel energy and though I have
read of the use of herbs and incense to burn,
is it the burning drug that is supposed to do
the magic or is it your energy that makes it come
true? Different books do things differently."
Here is an answer supplied by cat yronwode
(
[email protected]):
"As for how magic works, one theory is that certain
objects, including but not limited to natural curios
suchas roots, herbs, minerals, and animal parts, have
within them a certain a-causal link to some realm of
human endeavour, often by virtue of their shape, colour,
size, or scent. Thus, to give two examples, violet
leaves, which look like hearts, are used in love magic,
and lodestones, which are natural magnetic rocks, are
used to "draw" wealth, love, or luck to the holder. These
operations may be carried out with or without reference
to religious entities (gods, spirits, saints).
"An overlapping, but actually slightly different form of
magic involves human-made artifacts -- amulets, lucky
charms, talismans, and the like. These can be made by
the magician him or herself but are often prepared for
clients by a conjurer, craft-worker, or jeweler."
Generally speaking, folk-magic and the magic of rural
people seems to place greater emphasis on objects --
herbs, minerals, animal teeth or bones, human sexual
fluids, candles, incense, and so forth -- than it does
on the "energy" of the person casting the spell.
Conversely, ceremonial magic, chaos magic, and other
urban-based traditions tend to place more emphasis on
"will" or directed personal power.
A third path is that of the religiously-inclined magician,
who believes that invocation or summoning of deities,
saints, spirits, or angels influences the outcome of a
magical spell.
To the best of our knowledge, none of these three distinctly
different theories has been empirically proven "right" or
"wrong," so the individual practitioner is left to follow
the tradition most congenial to his or her world-view and
personality.
22B Is magic compatible with modern Science?
This is an oft-asked question, particularly with reference
to Heisenberg and chaos theory. Hang around a little before
getting into one of these discussions. They can take quite
a while to untangle.
22C How are magic and religion/mysticism related or different?
There have been a number of different discussions on these
subjects. One extremely popular hypothesis is the
magic/individual : religion/group model. This notion holds
that magical practices that do not involve a congregation
and a worship service are not religious. (An example of this
would be a woman casting a love spell with oils and a candle
to attract a man.) Likewise, according to this viewpoint,
magical practices that involve a congregation and worship
ARE religious.
Some folks hold the oinion that religious practices cannot,
by definition, be magical. Others contend that religious
services that invoke the aid of spirits or unknown forces
to effect a change in the world are magical. (An example
of this would be a Christian prayer meeting for healing
a member of the congregation.)
Some religions openly include and acknowledge magical
practices. Some emphasize this aspect more than others.
Here are three examples, selected more or less at random:
Fundamentalist Christians tend to downplay magic, but
Catholic Christians often practice it openly, especially in
more rural cultures than the United States. For example, it
is common in Mexico to invoke the financial aid of Saint
Martin Caballero (a religious act) by means of a magical
phrase ("citrum neuvo"), a thread-wrapped horseshoe, and
a cloth bag filled with grains of wheat (a magical act).
Santeria and Vodoun, two Afro-Caribbean religions with
strong magical components, are sometimes wrongfully
characterized by outsiders as a form of magic, although they
are both actually religions. The use of ritual baths and
trance-possession seem to strike Euro-Americans as
"magical" acts, rather than "religious" ones, despite the
fact that both religions have priestly hierarchs who conduct
ceremonies for the congregation
Hinduism has an entire sacred book (one of the Vedas)
devoted to magical formulas and spells -- and this is in
addition to the more cosmlogical and worship-oriented Vedic
texts.
Child of Fire (mailto:
[email protected]) framed the
question of how magic relates to relgion in terms of its
"fit" with goddess-worshipping Wicca, when she asked:
"I am not Wiccan (though two of my best friends are)
but I do find the magics interesting. I enjoy and
practice candle magic and herb magic... however,
[...] one of the main reasons I'm NOT wiccan is that
I can't honestly say that I believe in a goddess.
The other reason [is] that I am quite impulsive,
so that I tend to act BEFORE I think and when you
throw in the Three-Fold Law [of Return; a Wiccan
dogma], I find myself headed for a lot of trouble,
ya know? Any help would be much appreciated."
This question is probably more religious than magical.
While many Wiccans do practice magic, they certainly did
not invent it or have an exclusive handle on it. In fact,
magical practices -- especially those using simple objects
from nature such as herbs and minerals -- are to be found
in virtually every human culture, regardless of the type
of deity worshipped. Furthermore, even people who worship
NO deity may practice magic. As for opinions about the
universality of the Three-Fold Law of Return (or lack
thereof), see the next two questions.
It's always good to ask these questions -- many people don't,
and thus make erroneous assumoptions about other people's
practices -- but if you wish to discuss mysticism or
religion, consult a newsgroup devoted to that topic. For
more reading on the subject, follow links from the MaGI's
Gehennom GOO at
http://www.luckymojo.com/magi/goo.html!
22D Can I be cursed even if I don't believe in magic?
What you believe about curses is likely the product of the
culture in which you were raised. In many cultures, the
answer to this question is "Yes, you can be cursed whether
or not you believe in magic and whether or not you are
consciously aware of the fact that a curse has been
placed on you.
In skeptical, urban, non-traditonal cultures with a
materialist basis of thought, the answer may be "no"
-- in several variants.
A belief that there is a necessity for the victim of a
curse to "believe" in his or her magical victimization
for the curse to be operative -- called "the consent of
the victim" -- is often discussed in materialist urban
cultures and it sometimes forms part of a refutation
against the possibility of ANY kind of magical (or
religious) practice.
However, it is not strictly a materialist belief, because
it presupposes that magical (or religious) activity is
possible and can be performed upon someone as long as
they consent to believe in it. That is, the "consent of
the victim" theory does not dispose of magic as a "series
of coincidences" or "advanced psychology" or the like.
Therefore, one can call it a materialist-magical theory,
in which a person's choices about belief (materialist
or magical) will determine how much -- if at all --
magic can affect him or her.
Similar to the materialist-magical notion of the "consent
of the victim" is the "Alice defense" derived from the
book "Alice In Wonderland" ("You're nothing but a pack
of cards!"), whereby sheer DIS-belief in magic is thought
to protect one against a magical attack. This is more
strictly materialist than the "consent of the victim"
theory -- but magicians sometimes call it a form of
"unconscious magic," in that, they claim, the potential
victim creates a powerful MAGICAL shield through
DISbelief in magic. :-)
What you believe is ultimately your own choice.
23A Is magic black or white? Should we do black magic?
For discussion about the ethics of magic, see the newsgroup
news:alt.magick.ethics.
23B What about the "Three-Fold Law of Return"? Don't curses and
coercive spells somehow bounce back and punish you?
While in many magical traditions there is a guide of some
kind against coercing a person, this rule is not culturally
universal.
"The three-fold law of return" (which hypothesizes that
whatever you do to others magically will come back to you
three-fold) -- is often cited by modern Neo-Pagans as a
warning against performing coercive spells. However, the
"three-fold law" is neither a law of nature (like gravity)
nor a world-wide law of magical practice, being found only
in those Neo-Pagan traditions that derive from or are allied
to Wicca. In Hindu magical practices, for instance, the "law
of karma" states that what you do will come back to you at
full force -- that is, it is a "one-fold law of return" --
not three-fold.
Both the Hindu and Wiccan rules of return can be
demonstrated to be false in a given person's lifetime.
That is, so many wicked people escape justice that no sane
observer would contend that it is a law of any kind that
punishment is certain for evil deeds. In order to support
their one-fold and three-fold "laws" of return, Wiccans and
Hindus rely on a secondary hypothesis, namely, reincarnation
of the individual soul. This is a matter of religious dogma.
Because reincarnation has never been satisfactorialy
demonstrated to occur, the majority of human beings neither
endorse reincarnation, nor a "law of karma" or "three-fold
law of return."
Most cultures in which magic is practiced have no stated
belief in a "rule of return" of any kind -- and it is
recommended that because discussions of such "laws," being
religious topics, are not of concern to the general
practitioner of magic, discussion about them should be
directed to an appropriate newsgroup in the soc.religion.*
or alt.religion.* hierarchies.
24 Is spell casting guaranteed to produce results
-- and if not, why bother to practice magic?
This question comes up regularly in the newsgroup, and is also
often asked by potential customers of spiritual supply stores.
Here is how one store-owner, cat yronwode (
[email protected]),
replies to the query:
"The question of whether a mojo hand, spell kit, or other
occult item is "guaranteed to bring in results" is one that
i am often asked. As most hoodoo practitioners know, every
supplier in America sells their products as curios only,
for legal reasons which i am sure we can all appreciate.
"I can certainly go on record stating that we have had many
customers provide us with feedback that they have had
successful results with our spell kits, mojo bags, oils,
candles, incenses, and other products -- or those of our
competitors -- but due to the nature of magic and the
differentiation of attention and power among those who
employ these spells, combined with the irregularity of
feedback, we cannot be absolutely certain of their
success rate.
"What i tell my customers and clients is this: even if
you use magic only to concentrate upon your desires and
to pray, you will at least haveclarified what it is you
want. If it works for you, however, as it very often does,
then you will not only have clarified your desires, you
will have achieved them.
"Remember this: every farmer who plants seeds fully hopes
and expects the seeds to germinate and the crop to grow.
Most years, this is exactly what happens -- but some years
the seed is of poor quality or the weather is bad, or an
infestation of insects, or a disease, or even the work of
a malicious enemy may somehow ruin the crop before it
matures. A reputable spiritual supply store will endevour
to supply good "seeds" -- authetntic prodects, prperly
labelled, with instructions for use according to custom --
but beyond this, no supplier can guarantee results because
the outcome of spell-work is determined by factors such as
the experience and beleief of the pracitioner, possible
opposition against the spell being cast by other parties,
and ephemeral conditions analogous to the "weaether" (such
as transitory astrological conditions) that may be a
ffecting people in general at the time the work is
being performed."
25A When casting a spell is there always an incantation
-- or is it belief or will-power that produces results?
This depends on the tradition -- and the spell. Some spells
employ incantations (to gods, demons, elemental forces),
some use objects (roots, herbs, minerals, amulets, talismans,
seals), some utilise actions (sprinkling, dancing, stepping
in a pattern, bathing), and many use a combination of these.
Generally speaking, spoken or recited incantations, spells,
or rhymed chants are more common in European folk-magic and
its derivatives (including Wicca and Neo-Paganism) than in
the magical practices of other cultures. The lack of such
spoken spells does not, however, imply that the other
culture's spell-casters are less "magically adept" or
that they emphasize will-power over rhymes. It simply
describes that they come from another culture.
25B Is Latin really the most powerful spell casting language?
Some folks think so. Others swear by Hebrew, Greek,
Egyptian, Sanskrit, or...you name it! There is
certainly no agreement that any one language is more
powerful than others, although each -- including common
English -- has advocates.
25C Should I create my own spells or follow old ones exactly?
There are many opinions on this matter, and lively
debates have ensued in the newsgroup almost every time
this question has been broached.
"Just because a spell is old, that doesn't mean it
will work" is a truism we have all heard many times.
The inverse -- "Just because a spell was made
up on the spot, that doesn't mean it will work" --
is equally true.
Generally speaking, Neo-Pagans tend to empahasize the
beneftis of creating your own spells while folk-magic
practitioners (root-workers, brujas, and the like)
tend to emphasize the benefits of learning spells
from your elders, or, if that is not possible,
from written accounts of the old-time ways.
One thing both sides agree upon: if you create your
own spells, it is good to have a knowledge-base in
regard to the magical meanings of herbs, roots,
minerals, colours, seals, amulets, astrological
symbols, and the like, and to have practiced a bit
first with written or orally transmitted spells,
to get a feel for how to do the work.
Regarding the improvisation of spells while remaining
true to tradition, cat yronwode (
[email protected])
says:
"Each culture (or social sub-culture) seems to have
its own rules, customs, or practices regarding the
workings of magic.
"Some of these customs are found in more than one
culture. For instance, ritual cleaning and bathing
occur in the magic of most cultures, including urban
ceremonial magick (with a k) and Sicilian folk magic
(without a k).
"Other forms of ritual or rule are not as widespread.
For example, foot-track magic (performing magical
operations on others through use of their footprints,
shoes, or by scattering material where they will step
on it) is typically an African magical custom, which is
found also in African-American hoodoo practice, while
evil-eye magic (causing harm by envious glances and/or
working protection spells or curing people thus caused)
is typically a Mediterranean, Adriaitic, Agean, and
Indian practice.
"Basically, once the rules of a given system of magic
are internalized by the practitiioner, a great deal of
improvosation may be done for any given ritual or magical
job of work. The mark of a good magician in his or her
own school of magic is his or her ability -- to borrow
an analogy from music -- to seemlessly improvise a tune
within the chord structure of the system being used."
26 Is animal sacrifice common in spell-casting?
Animal sacrifice is more common in certain religions
than it is in magical rites in general, considered
world-wide. Very few folk-magic spells require animal
sacrifice because they derive from rural-agricultural
traditions in which animals are too valuable to butcher
indiscriminately. Religions are more likely to require
the sacrifice of an animal, possibly because the
priestly class traditionally claims the carcass as a
sort of fee or payment for services rendered.
27 Is it possible to invoke Gods, Spirits, Angels,
or Demi-Gods, evoke demons, or summon the dead?
Evoking an entity means to call it with a voiced chant
(an evocation) and to cause it to manifest before you.
Invoking an entity means to call it with a voiced chant
(an invocation) and to cause it to manifest within you.
As Simon Progrediore (mailto:
[email protected]) explains:
"To evoke a spirit would mean to cause said spirit to
appear, either in the material world or in the astral
world, via magick mirror, crystal, etc.
"To invoke a spirit would mean to cause said spirit
to enter your body or mind. It is for this reason,
that students are urged NOT to invoke demons, only
the God-Names and so-called 'benevolent' angels."
Summoning simply means to coerce an entity to appear.
Non-coercive summoning is sometimes called "inviting"
the entity.
Many people claim to have done some or all of these
things, either in religious rites or in magical rituals.
To some observers, it seems that much invocatory and
summoning magic has a religious tinge to it and vice
versa. These folks cite the ceremony of Holy Communion
in the Catholic Church is an instance of summoning a deity
and the trance-possession of Santeria as an invocatory rite.
28 Is there a spell that will actually let your arm
spontaneously combust and not get burned? Allow you to fly?
Turn you invisible? Change the colour of your eyes?
These sound more like sleight-of-hand than sorcery. When
portrayed in movies, they may be the result of special
effects, stunt-doubling, or the like.
29 Can spell casting really heal the terminally ill or
kill a healthy person?
Many have claimed so and believed so. Examples of
spontaneous healing -- and spontaneous death -- abound in
the literature of science as well as the literature of
magic. This is not to say that such things are common or can
be predictably made to happen, but they do seem to occur
now and then.
================================================================
30 STUDIES
How to learn about magic and what ought be considered the
best sources are frequently discussed topics in usenet.
Occasionally someone will compile a REF file of newsgroup
posts for a common topic. Make a collection of posts and
assist in the project yourself by adding to the Lucky Mojo
Esoteric Archive at
http://www.luckymojo.com/esoteric.html.
31 How should I start learning about magic? teachers?
Some recommend the use of particular mechanisms or tools,
such as tarot, a magical diary, meditation or dreamwork.
Some recommend specific books or teachers, others place more
emphasis on the aptitude and imagination of the student.
As CHenningsson (mailto:
[email protected]) writes:
"Books are one answer. There are actually books which
try to take you from your first tentative attempts
at relaxation into holding a ritual....
"Other than that ... Just do it! If you like to, you
can see this as one of the very first exercises in Will;
you Will yourself into making a ritual."
Robin (mailto:
[email protected]) provides marvelous advice:
"Resist the temptation to believe what anyone else
tells you. Try to invent ways to find out things
for yourself. Remain skeptical.
"Look for ways in which you may have been
doing magick without realizing it. Think about
what it might mean if you could use it with
intention, and how you might go about that."
MKampe (mailto:
[email protected]) offers:
"if you have clear notions of what magick is all
about, it might be better for you to pursue your
inner course and avoid outside contamination
[from teachers/books/etc.]."
32 What are some books for a beginner?
There are at least three online occult book lists available,
as well as one list of mail-order occult book dealers.
book list one:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/bookref
book list two:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/bookref2
book list three:
http://www.luckymojo.com/tkbibliocontents.html
occult book dealers:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/bookpubs.
33 Where is more online information about magic to be found?
Online reference files dealing with the Kabbalistic Abyss,
Chaos magic, Wicca, the Golden Dawn, and more are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/ref.html.
Magical organizations may wrangle out their political
issues in news:alt.magick.order.
People with religious issues to discuss in regard to
magic(k) can search for like-minded souls in the various
soc.religion.* and alt.religion.* newsgroups.
People with an interest in the spirituality of Aleister
Crowley, dubbed "Magick" by him and his followers, may
enjoy conversing in news:alt.magick.
Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, and their allies, will find people
with similar interests in the various alt.religion.*,
alt.witchcraft.*, and alt.pagan.* newsgroups. one such
newsgroup specifically devoted to Neo-Pagan magic is
news:alt.pagan.magick.
For the most complete online guide to occultism on the
internet, try the Mage's Guide to the Internet (MaGI)
at
http://www.luckymojo.com/magi/.
================================================================
40 SPELL COMPILATIONS
Spell-exchange within the alt.magick.* hierarchy is at
times discouraged by newsgroup regulars or newbies
concerned with considerations of ethics or expertise.
The only newsgroup apparently designated for such an
exchange is news:alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic.
A continually updated list of spells, some of them
compiled from posts in usenet, can be found on
The Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive Spells Page, which is at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells.html.
To see the complete contents of the Lucky Mojo
Spells Archive, please go to that page and scroll
through the links in the table of contents or use the
on-site search engine located there. For your
convenience, some of the most popular of these
spell-casting compilations are noted below.
41 Love and Lust Spells
The alt.magick love and lust spells file at
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/fuckspells.html
is a usenet collection and includes spells designed to
secure the love and/or passionate embrace of your target.
Folk-magic love spells by cat yronwode may be found at
http://www.luckymojo.com/lovespells.html.
A third set of love spells from various traditions is at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/red/loveandsexspells.html.
42 Hexing, Cursing, Death, and Hot Foot Spells
Jinxing, hexing, cursing, and death-oriented spells were
collected from usenet over the past few years and these
have been placed in online as an alt.magick ref file at
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/owspells.html.
A second set of spells to harm people, from various
magical traditions, collected from usenet, is at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/black/hurtingspells.html .
43 Summoning Demons and Making Infernal Pacts
Collected usenet posts about demon-summoning and infernal
pacts are in the alt.magick reference on summoning:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/summonspells.html.
A separate file that contains lists of demons suitable
for sommoning is the alt.magick demon list at
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/demons.html.
44 Fortune and Money-Bringing Spells
Some spells to obtain cash through skill or chance
and achieve success in other ways, compiled from posts
to usenet, and from various schools of magic, are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/green/cashspells.html.
Folk-magic money-drawing spells by cat yronwode are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/moneyspells.html
45 Protection and Blessing
Collected spells designed to remove bad luck, spiritual
parasitism, crossed conditions, or jinxes are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/white/blessingspells.html
Usenet contributors are responsible for a file of spells
that are to be used for blessing and pufication at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/white/blessingspells.html
Folk-magic protection spells by cat yronwode are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/protectionspells.html .
46 Spells for Court Cases and Legal Matters
A compilation of spells for keeping the law away,
winning in court, and combatting the forces of the
INS, IRS, and other bureaucratic agencies is online at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/purple/courtcasespells.html.
Folk-magic court case spells by cat yronwode are at
http://www.luckymojo.com/courtcase.html .
================================================================
50 REFERENCES AND REFERRALS
After consulting the various resources listed in this FAQ
and lurking in the newsgroup for a few weeks, feel free to
bring up any relevant subjects there.
51 Archives Online
Usenet posts on occultism make up a large part of the
Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive (which hosts this document).
Access its top-level directory structure at
http://www.luckymojo.com/esoteric.html
FAQs and REFs for a large assortment of other magical,
occult, mystical, and religious newsgroups can be found
at the Lucky Mojo FAQ Archive (a sub-set of the Esoteric
Archive). The table of contents for these FAQ and REF
files is at
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs.html
52 Magic-Related Newsgroups and E-Lists
See the MaGI at
http://www.luckymojo.com/magi/
for much occult, magical, and mystical information,
including a lengthy file of occult e-mail lists.
From that document, here is a further set of usenet
newsgroups that were not given above in the primary
list of magical nesgroups at Question 14.
(occult-related)
news:alt.astrology
FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astrlgy.9401
news:alt.astrology.asian
news:alt.chinese.fengshui
FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/fengref
news:alt.divination
news:alt.occult.kabbalah.golden-dawn
news:alt.pagan.magic
news:alt.tarot
Old FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/taroref
New FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.a-tarot.9801
Layouts REF:
http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/trtlyref
(darkness and power)
news:alt.necronomicon
news:alt.satanism
FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astncos.9901
Another FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astnmgp.9901
Another FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astnngp.9902
Another FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astntks.9901
Another FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.astntos.9901
(mystical thought)
news:alt.consciousness.mysticism
news:alt.meditation
news:alt.meditation.moderated
news:alt.philosophy.taoism
(psychology and consciousness)
news:alt.consciousness
news:alt.psychology.transpersonal
news:rec.drugs.psychedelic
news:sci.psychology.consciousness
(shamanism/neopaganism/wicca/religions incorporating magic)
news:alt.folklore
news:alt.folklore.gemstones
news:alt.folklore.herbs
news:alt.mythology
news:alt.mythology.mythic-animals
news:alt.native
news:alt.pagan
news:alt.religion.asatru
FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.asatru-.9506
news:alt.religion.orisha
news:alt.religion.shamanism
news:alt.religion.wicca
FAQ:
http://www.luckymojo.com/faqs/faq.arwicca.9506
news:alt.shamanism
news:alt.techno-shamanism
news:alt.traditional.witchcraft
FAQ:
http://www.atwweb.com/FAQ.htm
(ufos/parapsychology/spiritualism)
news:alt.consciousness.near-death-exp
news:alt.hypnosis
news:alt.out-of-body
news:alt.paranet
news:alt.paranet.metaphysics
news:alt.paranet.paranormal
news:alt.paranet.psi
news:alt.paranet.skeptic
news:alt.paranormal
news:alt.skeptic
news:alt.soulmates
53 Card Game Magic (e.g. 'The Obsession')
There are many newsgroups in the rec.games.* hierarchy
from which to choose. Also see MOXPERL at
http://mox.perl.com/deckmaster/.
54 Role-Playing Game Spellcasting
If you are looking for role-playing game magic, you can find
it in the Great Net Spellbook at
http://www.luckymojo.com/spells/GNSB/0-intro.html.
================================================================
60 AFTERWORD
Thanks to all the fine authors of files who helped tyagi
nagasiva during his sift for networking documents to fill
out the alt.magick faq, upon which this document is based.
Thanks most of all to tyagi himself, my dear one, my sweet
sweet sweet inspiration.
61 Footnotes
*01
See news:alt.magic for stage magic and news:alt.magick
for magick in theory and practice.
Return.
*02
Due to his many publications (see a list at
http://www.luckymojo.com/crowley/)
and the orders he crafted, Aleister Crowley (described at
http://www.crl.com/~thelema/crowley.html) is revered
by many and despised by as many more. His magical
treatise "Book Four" (published by Samuel Weiser)
may likely prove his most popular text.
Return.
*03
"Magick in Theory and Practice" by Aleister Crowley; p. 7.
See the text at
http://www.luckymojo.com/crowley/004mitapintro.txt.
Return.
62 Credits
Those who assisted by reviewing the FAQ, or whose ideas
and/or networking were utilized to good measure:
[email protected] (tyagi nagasiva)
[email protected] (AShub)
[email protected] (Peggy Brown)
[email protected] (Kim Burkard)
[email protected] (Dshoem)
[email protected] (Karen)
[email protected] (peter kim)
[email protected] (robin)
[email protected] (josh geller)
[email protected] (Chameleon)
[email protected] (Child of Fire)
[email protected] (Simon Progrediore)
[email protected] (Tom Schuler)
If you have suggestions for changes or additions to this
document, contact the Editor (
[email protected]).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. -- W. Occam
63 Copyrights
This document is copyright (c) 2003,
[email protected].
All rights reserved. Permission to distribute the collection
is hereby granted providing that distribution is electronic,
no money is involved, reasonable attempts are made to use the
latest version and all credits and this copyright notice are
maintained. Other requests for distribution should be
directed to the Editor or to the individual authors of the
quoted materials.
================================================================
[email protected] (cat)
Editor, alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ
FIN 418
