Beorc Kano's Posts - RealPagan- Paganism for the Real World

Souls in the Mist

2011-12-16T10:36:53.000Z

The world was a mist of swirling colors and shapes around her, as she spread her arms and danced. Spinning, whirling, feeling the mist flow through her fingers, he smiled, and let her voice out, playing with the melodies it made as it swam through color. Sometimes, she would get close to one of the shapes, and dance a circle around it, or climb on top of it, and the shape would bend down and wrap itself about her, giving her a wonderful little hug and tickle. She would giggle, and bounce away, blonde hair waving with her motions, a smile on her face, but distance in her eyes.

Sometimes too, the colors would turn a little bit darker, greyer, quieter, and she wouldn’t feel like dancing or bouncing anymore. She just wanted to sit and look at her hands, the music in her ears replaced by quiet. She wished the colors would be happy again, because when they were sad, she was sad. This world was all hers, belonged to her, but she belonged to the world, too. Maybe she was the world. Maybe the world was her. She wished one of the shapes would come over and hug her, tickle her, but they didn’t, they just sat there, making clicking noises at each other, sometimes beeping or humming. Sometimes she knew what the humming meant, sometimes she didn’t, but she wished it would be happy and bright, all the time.

Sometimes the grey colors turned even darker, and the mist would swirl around her, beating on her little body, making screaming noises in her ears. She would try to get away from it, but the shapes just crowded around her, holding her still. She wanted to cover her eyes and ears and nose and mouth all at the same time, but couldn’t. She screamed back at the wind, beat back at the wind, tried to hard to run away, but the shapes stopped her from running. If only it would get brighter again, if only the shaped could understand that she needed to run away, to get away from the noisy, hard place.

One of the shapes wrapped around her, and at first, she fought it. It was like the other shapes, holding her down when she needed to run, and she didn’t want that. She was angry and scared, and the colors weren’t being nice right now. The sound wasn’t being nice right now. But this shape started to hum to her, and swing her gently back and forth in the maelstrom of her world. Slowly, the noise got quieter as she listened to the humming, and even though she kept fighting, she wanted to less and less. Soon, the dark, noisy wind died down, and the colors started turning back to grey. She let the shape rock her back and forth as she relaxed, letting herself settle back into it. She was tired from fighting the dark color storm… she could use a rest. She let her heavy eyes slip shut, and before too long, she was back with the bright colors again, dancing and playing with them like she wanted to.

He held her in his arms, looking down at her little face. Red lines ran across her cheeks from where she had scratched herself, her little face almost purple from how hard she had been screaming.

“She’s almost seven now,” he said to the woman on the other side of the room. “She’s getting a lot stronger.”

“I know. I don’t know what to do when she melts down like that, except hold her and try to keep her from hurting herself.”

“Me too.” The man looked down at her from a few more minutes. “Sometimes, I really wonder what goes on in her mind… I wonder what it would be like to see things through her eyes, her perceptions. The world must be a very different place.” The little girls fingers twitched as she snuggled into the man, her eyelids flickering for a moment. The man smiled. “She is so very pretty.”

He settled her next to him as he lay back against the pillows, closing his eyes. Soon, the colors swirled in about him as he drifted off to sleep, where a little hand waited to take his. A little blonde girl was waiting for him, with a pretty smile and distant eyes. Without a word, the little girl started leading him through the colorful mist, and without question or reserve, he followed.

On Judgement...

2011-11-13T12:02:53.000Z

Recently, I have been reading a lot about people saying that they are being judged, they don't mean to be judgmental, stop judging me, you're casting negative judgment, blah blah blah... and it reminded me of a post I made back on the Site That Shall Not Be Named about judgment that is currently missing due to universal implosion. I'ma do my best to reconstruct it here from memory and reason.

We all judge. Every single day, we cast judgments. It's part of our daily routine, our daily functions. When we make a decision, ANY decision, we use our judgment. When we decide how we feel about someone or something, we are making a judgment. Hell, even if we are simply realizing how we feel about someone or something, even if there was no real conscious decision involved, we are using our subconscious judgment. It's part of what makes us discerning, intelligent creatures.

If we had no judgment, none at all... then we, as a people, would be doomed. We would immediately lose sense of right and wrong, all things would become permissible, and nothing would be challenged. Now, some people might thing, "Hey, everything permissible? What's so wrong with that?"

Oh, so very many things... what if theft, assault, drug use, irresponsible and unsafe practices... what if they were made permissible? If they were not judged negatively? That would truly end very badly... but getting into those details isn't the point of this post.

Many of us made a judgment when we decided to leave another site and come here, and that judgment was based upon the fact that we disagreed with the practices and values of the staff there, the way the site was being run, so on and so forth. So, we cast negative judgment, and we left. Many of us used to be Christian, but, in the end, we judged that it was not the right path for us, and we left that path in favor of another. We judged it as inferior for our needs. That is a judgment.

Most of us have been confronted with drugs, yet we judged them to be negative. We negatively judged the negative substances, and instead kept our bodies and minds clean. Many of us have seen certain religious or spiritual practices, and we have judged them to be wrong for us, unethical, immoral, or simply not spiritual, as to our understanding. For example... do you judge ritual cannibalism to be wrong? What about sacrifice, as in, using the death of a living organism as a sacrifice, whether it be human or animal or whatever?

Le gasp! You JUDGED human sacrifice/consumption to be wrong? You cast NEGATIVE JUDGEMENT!? You judgmental bastard! How can you call yourself a PAGAN/WICCAN/WHATEVER and JUDGE someone?

Easy. Very easy. We use judgment in our day to day lives to discern and clarify for ourselves what we think is a proper course of action, or a proper course of thought, or a proper concept to adopt. Judgment is part of what sets us apart from the lesser vessels of creation, and allows us the ability to really and actually choose. I judge many of my associates here to be mistaken in their views... but I also admit that my judgment is for me and me alone. Do I think that [practice a] is inferior to [practice b], or that [concept a] holds no ground when compared to [concept b]? Yes, yes I do. Which is why, when I came to those forks in my path, I chose the path that I judged to be the proper one... for me.

I'm rambling now, reiterating what I've said over and over. I tend to do that when I'm tired... It's 4:02 AM, and I judge this time to be a good one for sleeping.

Anyhow. Peace out.

Changing for your lover...

2011-06-13T07:52:16.000Z

This was spurred on by a comment I read, and a plethora of other comments of a similar nature that I have seen over the years, and I have always felt uneasy about in a slight sense... never able to really, really put my finger on it until now... but I never realy pursued it until now, either.

"You don't have to change for your lover! If your lover doesn't love you exactly as you are, then he/she doesn't love you!"

"Never change for your lover! YOU are PERFECT! If they don't like it, THEY can change or GTFO!"

"If your lover thinks you should change, they are being selfish and you should leave them!"

Now... where the hell did this mode of thought come from? Seriously. Are people the exact same? Are people all 100% compatible? Think about this for a second... Is EVERY SINGE COUPLE supposed to be completely, 100%, no-doubts-about-it, no arguments, no expectations in sync? That is a very unrealistic goal...

Let's use an example. I love my wife with every fiber of my being. I love her for who she is, and who she was, and who she will and can be. However, she has some habits and methods and idiosyncrasies that really, REALLY annoy the piss out of me. For example, I like to maintain a certain level of cleanliness, whereas she prefers a certain level of, as she describes it, "comfortable clutter." Clutter pisses me off, because I can't find a thing. She doesn't feel the same way that I do on certain very key issues, and THAT irritates me.

Do I wish she would change? Sure, it would make things here go much smoother in our relationship. Do I mention these things, and the fact that they bother me, and how I would like for things to be? You're damn right I do.

But don't you dare tell me that because of that, it means that I don't love my wife, or that she should leave me because I had the audacity to ask for a change. Plenty of people, her included, have asked me to change, and then there are changes in myself that I perceived were necessary without prompting, and I willingly made (or started working on making) them. I curb my jealousy. I force my trust. I control my temper. I quell my desire for Victorian cleanliness. I make myself socialize, instead of being a recluse like I want to be. Because I know that these are things that help make her happier. These are changes in myself that I am perfectly happy not making, except for how they effect my lover. I make these changes for her, and because of her. I do so willingly. And I do so with prompting as well.

Also, take into account that if someone asks you to make a change in your life, and your response is that if they loved you, they would accept you as you are, then you are asking them to make a change in what they find acceptable. Do you not love them, then? How precisely does that philosophy stand up when examined deeper, turned around, and pointed back at you?

All angles of an issue need to be deciphered before it is put into effect. This is one that hasn't been fully run through yet.

Sometimes, I wonder...

2011-04-27T12:24:49.000Z

I do. I wonder at many things.

I wonder why I naturally do things that other people find difficult, like internalizing issues and dealing with them appropriately.
I wonder why introspective is so easy for me, and impossible for many others.
I wonder why I never fail at anything I honestly try to do.
I wonder why it is so hard for me to feel real compassion, instead of moderate empathy.
I wonder why, when I DO feel compassion, it is completely overwhelming.
I wonder why I learn so quickly when it comes to 95% of what I see.
I wonder why I can't F*CKING UNDERSTAND that other 5%, when it comes so easily to everyone else.
I wonder why I don't feel any need for gods or goddesses.
I wonder why I was given this life I have.
I wonder who I pissed off before I was born to get this sh*t.
I wonder what I did that made me worthy of the blessings I have.
I wonder if I am worthy of those blessings.
I wonder if I'll ever get this goddamn weight off.
I wonder where I put that bag of potato chips...
I wonder if I can do it.
I wonder if there is a force in the universe that could stop me.
I wonder if it is normal to have such a strange mixture of arrogance, confidence, humility, and self loathing?
I wonder WTF normal is?
I wonder if this list will ever end.
I wonder if I actually have friends.
I wonder if my friends have any idea what I really think.
I wonder why I was gifted with a powerful, durable body, a keen intellect, and a quick wit.
I wonder why I was cursed with a slow metabolism, mental tunnel-vision, and a boredom-induced lack of attention.
I wonder if I am absolutely batsh*t insane.
I wonder if you are all absolutely batsh*t insane.
I wonder if there is anything wrong with that.
I wonder if there is anyone about who knows the Runes like I do.
I wonder if I know the Runes even a tenth as well as I think I do.
I wonder...

I wonder so much more than this, that this could go on for an eternity. The only thing that I know fr absolute certain is that I don't know, I won't know until I die (maybe), and at that point, I'll know, and it won't matter nearly so much whether I know or not, now, will it?

Now, I wonder... did you read all of this, or did you skim over it? ;)

The Public One

2011-04-19T03:57:12.000Z

This won't be long. It's also prolly not what you think it's gonna be.

Recently, I've been in one hell of a funk. Not sure the source, and I'm not sure the fix. Trying to puzzle out what precisely to do to get out of it. Getting pulled in a lot of different directions, and trying to figure which pulls to pay attention to and which pulls to ignore. I've established an identity and a circle of people here that are as trustworthy as online entities can be, so here is where I'm at, in trying to figure it out.

I... am an asshole. Yes, I know, I swore, but, in this one, it's inevitable, and will be minimal. Also, butt-head doesn't really convey the proper meaning. The other descriptive is spot on.

I am hard. Not hard, like Ghetto-rat-Gangsta hard, but, hard like stone, hard like steel. Sometimes this keeps me from absorbing things that I should grab a little quicker.

I am quick to temper but slow to show it and even slower to act on it. I am quick to judge, but slow to label. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, even to me... it works much on gut instincts.

I read very little, but I know a lot. I doubt that, a lot. I second guess myself, and change my answers, to find that my original recollection was correct. This pisses me off.

I DO NOT hide my past. I DO NOT hide from it. But... sometimes I might need to hide others from it. And there is always the question of appropriateness of venue. My past has some mysticism to it... quite a bit of it, actually, especially in the last decade. But, it seems, not enough to make this place appropriate to post an autobiography.

Or does it? This is a network... I see people posting things of a non-pagan nature from time to time, and, really, we are a community. When with one's friends, does one ONLY discuss things that apply to the first reason that you associated with those friends over? No, you get personal, you get deep.

I don't have many friends, well, many REAL friends, at least. I have associates, people I associate with, acquaintances, and the like. I have contacts and I have Human Resources. My view on people is best summed up with a statement I made about a year ago that I thought was great...

"When you're young, Friends are like Pokemon; Gotta catch 'em all! As you get older, they are like STDs; if you can get out of a social gathering without getting one, you're good."

I have, historically been someone who toes the line. I stand there, and settle the tips of my toes right there, and I lean forward, testing my limits. Sometimes I fall to the other side, sometimes I Riverdance all over that bastard without ever crossing it. Mr. Flatley would be proud of me... but the brass generally doesn't approve. On other sites (which I have since abandoned), I didn't give two sh*ts. Here, unfortunately, I do. This damnable thing called respect, well, I tend to give it to those that I find worthy, and here, I like the mods. I once thought I wanted to be a mod, but hell, I'd be a terrible mod. Mercy is unknown in me when someone irks me, and I tend to let my people tapdance wherever they feel like it... because they are my people.

The thing is, here, you are ALL my people. You're mine. All of you. Even if I don't know you, you're mine. I've come here, been here since pretty close to Day One, I've p***ed on all the corners, and scuffed dirt at all the right places. Territory's been marked.

(note: I'm not REALLY staking claim here that everything is mine.. it's a proverbial sort of thing. I hope you know me well enough to have understood my sentiment beyond my typed words)

Maybe that's why I feel comfortable here. Maybe I shouldn't feel as comfortable here as I do. Maybe I'm just weird.

Maybe it's the start of my Saturn Return. If it supposedly tosses your life like a salad, well... damn. Everyone get your helmets, there's about to be some Turbulence.

But whatever, right? I suppose we'll see what happens.

[/rant]

Runes, scents, oils, and colors, oh my!

2011-01-10T17:04:42.000Z

For those not familiar with my current project, I'm combining Runecraft with Hoodoo Master Candle work. I'm making 25 total candles, with my Master Candle being mine entirely, and then 24 candles, one for each rune. here's what Ive got so far.

Rune            Scent        Color

Algiz            ?                ?
Ansuz          ?                ?
Berkana       lavendar    yellow-green
Dagaz          ?                 ?
Ehwaz         ?                 ?
Eiwaz          ?                 ?
Fehu            leather       light tan
Gebo           ?                 ?
Hagalaz       sloe gin     charcoal
Inguz          Jasmine       blue-green
Isa          menthol    pale blue
Jera            ?                 ?
Kenaz         wasabi/pepper    red
Laguz          ?                 ?
Mannaz        ?                 ?
Nauthiz       ?                 ?
Othala       cedar         brown
Perthro       Wormwood grey-green
Raido          ?                 ?
Sowilu        Morning Glory    bright yellow
Teiwaz       ?                   ?
Thurisaz      ?                 ?
Uruz           ?                   ?
Wunjo         ?                   ?

Any thoughts, ideas, concepts, etc.. would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

Testing...

2011-01-07T10:18:42.000Z

I see a horrid, self validating thing happening amongst the pagan cultures. It's been happening as long as i can remember, and it will likely keep happening for as long as I live. We validate ourselves by giving others the ability to validate themselves. See this screencap from a year or two ago;

Look at this. Just look at it. It's horrible. Channeling energy into a chatroom? Seriously? And yet, three people leapt out of their seat and said they felt it. For the record, I didn't do squat. In doing something *like* this, people can say, "lol they felt me do it so I obviously can do it lol" and they can say "lol he said he did it and I felt him do it so I obviously can do it lol."

This is folly. Utter folly. This is how teenagers scare themselves with Ouija boards and think that they bind their friends with just a picture and a ribbon, because they saw it in The Craft. If they get a tummyache, they think they are cursed. They lose their job, it's not because they came in tired for a month straight, and ended up losing a large check, no there was black magic against them, or they ended up getting that new iPhone because they did a spell for it, not because mommy and daddy are loaded, and you dropped hints like Germany dropped bombs on London.

When testing those about you, do not lead them to the answers. Let them cast about, and actually use the senses you are seeing if they have! An example;

"Dude! Do you feel the energy coming off of these protective wards I carved into the top of this chest? I totally charged them with my own blood and energy on the night of the full moon!"

"Yeah, dude! It's practically GLOWING with the Goddess's power! :D"

Instead...

"You see this chest?"

"Yes?"

"What do you sense?"

You'd be surprised how many people are way, way off. That's what happens when you make a wild guess under pressure. This is also a good way to test your own skills and abilities. So you think you can send emotional energy? Try it. Be objective. Recognize that you can, and likely will, fail many, many times, before you succeed. Focus on someone, and pour as much positivity into them as you can. Watch for a reaction, a marked change in how they act.

So you think that you can do this, that, or the other?Try it. You want to know if someone can sense something you did? Do it, then ask what they sensed, or better yet, wait for them to come to you. Don't be the scientist that reveals everything to it's test subject.

All things are tested. All things need to be proven. Sometimes it is only to the observer, but that doesn't change the fact that there was a test, that there is proof. Not all proof is able to be put into a book. But, make sure that what you accept as proof isn't just a clever person who is able to give you what you want. Just because someone is clever, doesn't mean they have any true ability.

Anyways, it's late, and I'm an asshole. Goodnight.

Kinds of Teachers

2011-01-01T20:52:55.000Z

For years, likely as long as all of you have known me, I have steadfastly held to the standpoint that I am by no means a teacher of any kind. I hold this point of view because, in my eyes, a teacher needs several things to be considered thus.

A system. A tradition is, in my eyes, almost absolutely necessary to be able to claim the title of teacher. There are, of course, exceptions, but they are exactly that, the exception, and not the rule. A teacher is someone who knows the method, knows the path, knows the way that it should be done to get the desired effect. In order for this to be the case, there has to be something predetermined, some thing that can be referenced or remembered, something that came from before the teacher, maybe before the teacher's teacher.In any case, there has to be *something* in order to be taught.
A ranking. This system,should, generally, have some sort of ranking method, some manner of distinguishing the neonate from the elder, the initiate from the High Priest, the student form the teacher. Obviously, information is going to be a deciding factor (the one that has more of it, obviously, will most likely be the teacher), but there is more. Experience has to be had by the one instructing, or you have a glorious case of the blind leading the blind, and you have Ravenwolf syndrome. Certainly not a desirable way to be.
PATIENCE. Not everyone can divine the secrets of the universe with verbal instruction alone. There have been times I have tried, time and time again, to describe something, and I have used the simplest terms, the most applicable analogies, terms tailored specifically to the asker, and they *still* did not get it. I lose patience, and I get crabby, curt, and sometimes downright angry that they don't get it. A teacher needs to be able to look past a student's current limitations, and help the student overcome them.
Resources. A teacher has to be able to fall back on something solid, something that can stand as a word of authority, either a text, a principle, a person, but something. That way, if a student asks something that the teacher can't answer, the teacher can go get the answer, and return to the student. This has to able to be done with a level of confidence that keeps the student feeling that they have a competent teacher. If the student loses confidence or respect for their teacher, they are no longer an effective teacher.
Responsibility. In all things, the teacher must take responsibility for what they teach. If they teach a student a dangerous or destructive art before the student is ready, they have to take responsibility for what they have imparted. If that student abuses the knowledge that they have been given, it is because they were either not ready or not worthy for what they were told, and a teacher needs to be able to discern this, and act (or not act) appropriately (whichever the case may be).

Does this mean that if someone does not have all of those traits, that you cannot learn from them? Not by any means. This just means that the person you are learning from falls under a slightly different archetype. Lemmie see if I can break these down here.

The Student of Life. Someone who has been through life, the highs, the lows, the primitive, the refined, the hellish and the heavenly. The School of Hard Knocks is their university, and they have a Master's degree. Often, these people are bullheaded and focused, and they have a determination that can be very intimidating to some. They know their stuff, but they are taught almost entirely through experience, instead of scholarship. Theirs is often a base, primal practice, and very eclectic. They often lack the Tradition, Ranking, and Patience sections from above, and, though not as frequently, they can lack resources as well. They are used to making do with what they have, and will expect those that learn from them to do the same.
The Hermit. This person prefers solitude. Yes, sometimes they interact with people, but in general, even in a crowd, they are solitary and alone. They may be talking to you, they may be interacting with you, but you can see it in their eyes that they are holding you at arm's length. They don't seek a coven, they don't seek to be a part of any society, and so, they often lack the Tradition aspect outlined above, and the ranking that comes from that. However, they may not have always been Hermits, and may retain the workings of their original order, estranged though they may be, that has been spiced with the herbs of their solitude. These people have deep, intense practices, more often than not, and on about a 50/50 ratio, they have either eschewed the following of Gods, or they find Gods unnecessary. It is best not to pry into the background of these people... sometimes, the reason they are hermits can be very unpleasant to relive, and can drive them away from you. They often don't have the patience to sit and teach someone, but if you can be allowed to observe them, you can learn much.
The Eccentric. Not to be confused with The Eclectic, the Eccentric seems to combine everything with everything, with hardly a care for the culture or traditions behind the arts themselves. Often, Eccentrics focus on the objects and the actions of the arts, and not so much the spirituality behind them. Energies and methods are of much more importance to an Eccentric, and this is made obvious by their incessant questions of matters that seem trivial or inconsequential to those who are into it for religious reasons. Eccentrics rarely, if ever, have a Tradition to claim, or any form of ranking (other than one they may give themselves), and while they may have patience and resources in great abundance, they can, at times, lack responsibility. For them, the All is the study and advancement of the Arts themselves, and the more working on them, the better.

This is as far as I have gotten with this breakdown. I am certain that there are more archetypes, but these are the broad ones I have been able to think of here and now. If you have any ideas, drop 'em here, and I'll updated as I can. :)

Pontification Series Volume One: On Circles, Summoning, and Ritual Magic.

2010-12-17T06:00:00.000Z

Now, this was a message sent to another user on this site, but, I spent so damn much time writing it, and I touched on so many different subjects, and my personal views on them, I decided to drop it into a blog post. Any identifying bits have been removed, but my answers to questions have been left, albeit slightly edited for relevance and content, to make it flow better.

You will find that, when I converse, I do not mind long winded, detailed explanation.

Now, me, personally, I do not cast a circle when I do my workings, the reason being that I have yet to find a force that can threaten me in this realm. Let me start with a bit of an anecdote that may seem disconnected, but it will lend insight.

I greatly disapprove of the act of summoning. I find it to be one of the most foolish and disrespectful things one can do to a spirit. First off, put yourself in the spirit's position. You're kicking back, chillin', just doin' your thing, maybe reading an Astral book, playing some Astral PS3, maybe getting your Astral groove thang on with an Astral hottie, making sweet Astral love. Then, suddenly, when you were in the middle of something you'd rather be doing, BAM! You find yourself in the middle of a salt pentagram, surrounded by candles, with some dipshit in a cloak waving a wand or athame at you, asking questions in a singsong voice.

What do you do? Well, if I am stronger than said individual, I break out of his feeble barriers, and royally f*** his shit up. If I am not, I ask the person why they want ME to do something they are fully capable of doing, I answer all the questions he has for me, and I go home with a chip on my shoulder, maybe to rile someone bigger and badder up to get even.

Now, how that relates to the topic of casting a circle...

If something were stronger than me, stronger than me enough so that I should be worried about it, stronger enough than me that I would need it's help in doing something that I couldn't, then my magical workings would come apart in the force of theirs, thus being a waste of energy that could be put to much better use. If they are NOT strong enough to break my circle, then my own personal defenses are more than sufficient to keep them from harming me. I will note here, though, that, for some reason, I seem to have intense natural protection, and I'm not sure why. Eruandil and Julica can verify this, and I believe InfamousBlackRaven as well, Eruandil's consort. This, however, why I never bother to cast a circle.

Does this mean I do not use circles in my workings? Absolutely not. I DO use circles, just not the same was as Wiccans do. I am pointedly not a Wiccan, thus out methods would differ intensely. I use a circle as a way to contain my workings into one focused area. For example, the last ritual I did (Midsummer of 2009, at the moment of dawn at Stonehenge (just because that seemed an auspicious time)) was on a riverbank. I had a young lady with me who was my assistant for the ritual, and between the two of us, we represented the Male and Female of the spirit/spark of life/what have you. There was a bowl of sand, a bowl of river water, five sticks of incense, and a small fire for the four physical elements. The fire was centered, I sat to the south of it, the sand was to my left, the water to my right, the incense in the sand to the north of the fire, and my tools between myself and the fire. It was a bloodworking ritual, so I'll stop there, as it isn't relevant, but we were all in the ring of stones. That was a boundary set not as a shell to keep energies ut, but as a boundary to keep our energies in.

The energies mingle, they mix, and they create an effect. I have found that their orientation and the symbol their position forms are of less importance than the use and skill at which they are implemented. After all, if all the energies are moving towards the same goal, are they not turned into one force?

That, and my symbol is not the five pointed pentagram, but the eight pointed octogram. In my personal practice, I break the element of Spirit into four sub elements, Good/Creation/Life, Evil/Destruction/Entropy, Order, and Chaos. Spirits can be any combination of these four elements of Spirit, and I prefer to define them down deeper than just the overview of 'Spirit.'

However, as far as I understand the Wiccan use of the Pentagram, yes, the human body can be represented. If I am not mistaken, following the lines of the Pentagram, starting at the top, it goes; Top=Spirit, Lower Right=Earth, Upper Left=Water, Upper Right=Air, Lower Left=Fire, and back to the top, Spirit. If you were to represent the pentagram, your head would be the element of spirit, or Will/Thought, and, depending on if you lay on your back or stomach, your different limbs would represent the other elements correspondingly. This would conceivably work, but to what end? Are you attempting to invoke Deity? That is something I would caution against.

It is, though, noteworthy that the human body is not necessarily durable enough to contain a God that didn't care to be entirely contained, and, really, what would be the purpose? Do you think that there would be a whole lot of room left in there for you? My question is, what do you expect to achieve via ritual?

Ritual magic is not as hardcore as people think it is. It's also not as hard. Now, remember, there is a difference between ritual and ceremonial magic. Ceremonial is tradition or religion specific, whereas Ritual is simply a set of actions designed to elicit an effect. What I do is ritual. I do little, if any, ceremonial magic, seeing as how I have eschewed religion and tradition entirely, electing to instead forge my own path through eternity.

A key to ritual magic is the manipulation of energy through the force of one's will. Magic is energy is energy is magic. If you can't move the energy, you can't make the magic. Start by focusing on yourself. Feel your own energy, feel it in you, visualize it. Then work on moving it about yourself. Become intimately familiar with it. See how it changes in you based on your emotions and environment. Know it as well as you know the look of your own hands, the smell of your own skin, the taste of your own teeth. Then work on perceiving the energies about you. Start small. The energies inherent in the world about you, in your walls, your bed, the air. Expand from there and open yourself to seeing other energies with your mind's eyes, then work on grasping ti with your will and bending it to your design. Don't think about doing it, just do it. Don't hope you can, know you can so thoroughly that the question doesn't even come up whether you can or not. Then, write your own rituals. Make your own practices. Or, if you are a part of a tradition, use this practice to augment and enhance your trad workings.

As for how you should cast a Wiccan circle, that I can't say. Sangraal wrote a damn good piece on it, and Lady Morgen and Oakthorne are both amazing resources on Wiccan magic, both of them being an Alexandrian High Priest/Priestess. Whether that sort of thing is oathbound or not, i don't know.

Anyhow. I've rambled, and I hope I've hit something in there somewhere that answers some question you may have had. By all means, if you have more questions, I am fully willing yo pontificate more on the matter. ;)

Now, a noteworthy addendum to this is thus; I know that there is a more religious reason behind the casting of a Wiccan circle, as such it has something to do with making a place for the God/Goddess to be, a secure place for ones magic, etc.., but this doesn't mesh with my own personal view of Eternity and Existence, as the notions I have of Deity don't really go for invoking or the like. That is why my view on circle casting (and it's importance, or lack thereof) is as it is. I have come up against, in my workings, defenses that were set in place by a will contrary to my own, and they crumbled before me and my workings, and my will was done.

This may seem to some to be what could be called OMG BLACK MAGIC, but, as in all things in life, there are times when wills will conflict, purposes will collide, and there WILL be confrontation. It was during one of these times that I felt a resistance, and then I felt it crush under my will. When later I confronted that individual, he noted that his circle had fallen. In the end, the matter had been decided, it was done, and while we had no reason to associate again, we held no great animosity. he told me he was going to do a thing, I told him that I would not let him, he said that I could *try* to stop him, and then I did. Things went as they were supposed to, and that was that. This is the main reason why I put little faith in circles, and why I feel as I feel about the ability of a stronger will to crush or destroy them.

Anyhow. I'm done pontificating for now. :)

Until again, be well.

Beorc Kano

aka Beowulf

aka Brandon

You don't have to like me...

2010-12-04T21:00:00.000Z

... but I sure am a funny bastard to watch. Entertaining, if nothing else. Just got re-banned from WT, for this;

Hello, BrianK. Remember me?

I'm certain you don't. To expect you to make the connection between me and the group that was the top on WT for about a year would be absurd, and giving you much, much more credit than you deserve. However, I know who *you* are. I know a lot of things about you, Brian, from watching how you've run this site for the last three years.

Do you remember the user SilverKitten? I think she was 14 when you propositioned her for sexual content, just before you freaked out and put the 17+ age limit on the site. That effectively erased her and her accusation, and any proof she had from the private messages you'd sent her. You and Syn did will on covering that up.

Except it just didn't stop there. The site kept growing and growing, and you started to see that it was an excellent source of income! Look, all these silly wiccans and pagans, they were a GREAT source of advertising income! So you kept upgrading and modernizing the site, all the while with dollar signs in your eyes.

But there was a problem... some people actually took this pagan thing seriously! When some of the new members came on, claiming to be related to characters in Harry Potter, the older, more seasoned and knowledgeable members sent them packing. If someone claimed to be half elven, or raised by Faeries, they were corrected firmly. These posers threw fits, and left the site. Oh, no no no, this wouldn't do. Members leaving was an unacceptable churn. This had to be stopped! Slowly, you clamped down on the ability of members to correct inaccurate information, for the sake of the almighty dollar. First the control of the language, terms, and methods, then the control of the content. Then, once we found loopholes, and started pressuring you to actually act instead of hide, you snapped and started cutting out the few people who were working to keep this site genuine. All because you were outed for not removing a known sexual predator who was collecting under-aged female friends, the same under-aged female friends you yourself said you approved one-by-one.

Are you going to say I am lying? I have proof.

And finally... what you were shown.

http://www.esorn.ag.state.oh.us/Secured/p23.aspx?oid=Vg1FSMDDwVA=

He raped a girl under the age of 13. And you let him stay on here until the issue and offender were reported. You only acted when your own hide was in danger via personal liability. And you acted to cover your ass, not protect the community.

You are disgusting.