For the past couple of months, I've given in to my curiosity and have been looking through the forum over at www.evocationmagic.com .
I am intrigued by the large community over there that genuinely believe and practice forms of witchcraft, black magic, magick, voodoo, etc. If you were to spend an hour or two just reading their accounts of events, you will come to realise that they are completely serious in recounting magical events that happen in their lives.
From being cursed to summoning demons, or even being a practitioner of white magic that cures illnesses, there's a whole array of magic that is conducted for all sorts of different reasons.
People request for/share different spells for various reasons. For example, there are spells to get rid of people, spells to cause bad luck to befall on others, and even spells that cause people to lust for you. Of course, there is also the form of magic that can cause harm and even death to others.
Just being a curious lurker on that forum, and actually having been brought up in a Christian household, I am deeply intrigued by these people who engage and believe in whatever they believe in. Of course, being so new to this, I take everything I read with a pinch of salt, and have yet to be entirely convinced by the fantastic stories shared by some of the members there.
I'm just wondering if any of you here at TL actually know people who are practitioners of something of the like. Even better if you actually ARE one of them. Like actual practising Wiccans, or even witches? I'm just so curious to know, what are they like in real life? Are they normal people like you and I? Are they just like people who have normal day-to-day lives and go to church on Sundays? Or are they dark, secretive and hooded like I picture them to be in my mind?
Looks like a bunch of really suggestable people if you ask me. People will believe anything if they really want to believe it. Most of it looks like coincidence that they attribute to "magic". For example if I cast a "spell" on someone to cause harm to them, eventually they will get hurt, it could happen tomorrow or years from now. It's not the spell, it's just that people get hurt quite often, stubbed toes, car accidents, etc. The error is people attribute the spell with why they got hurt, a clear logical fallacy.
I cast a "spell": -> The effects happen because normally the spells are common stuff that happens anyways. (I want to have a good day, I want somebody to get hurt, etc.) -> I lose touch with the person so I have no clue if the effects work or didnt. (Most of these stupid people just assume it works.) -> The spell didnt work because you asked for something that doesn't usually happen, i.e. someone you hate dying. Then they just assume "Oh no I must have casted the spell wrong! Maybe it's too high level for me!" (no, you're just retarded)
Do you see in all 3 situations the person still "wins"? (sees it as working, not them just being stupid/illogical)
I understand where you are coming from, but I just hope that, as much as most of us are cynical about it, we remain open minded.
I'm not asking if the stuff they do is real, I'm wondering if anyone knows anyone of the like. Because they actually seem to discuss matters like level headed, normal people like you and I. Even within their community, they sometimes diss off people that mistake coincidence for magic, like hersenen just did.
The reason for this thread is to try and understand what these people are like in real life.
I believe the supernatural exists and actually don't doubt that at some point some of these people did indeed encounter it. However, it's not something that we have control over and we shouldn't invoke it as if we do.
I dated a practicing Wiccan for 3 years. She used her evil, dark sorcery to begin a career in information technology. She was the polar opposite of dark and secretive, and I think the only dark hooded thing she ever wore was a sweatshirt she borrowed from me. She attends PantheaCon, a convention for Wiccans, Pagans, and other belief systems that don't fall under the "mainstream" label that need to be merchandised. The rest of her practicing was either done in private, or with personal friends. The only thing I found any different about her beliefs is that she thought she could use magic to make "things" happen in the real world. There are a lot of convenient excuses written into the doctrine such as the "If I make shit happen, shit will happen to me three times" clause. The Wiccans I talked to all had very averse attitudes to actually using magic, In my opinion, this saves them from a lot of disappointment.
The line "I am deeply intrigued by these people who engage and believe in whatever they believe in." could be applied to any religion or set of beliefs from an outsider's perspective. You mentioned being from a Christian household, but you did not mention if you practice the religion. If you do, the irony brings a tear to my eye, as you yourself are simply "engaging and believing whatever you believe in."
Don't take this as an attack on Christianity, or any other religion specifically. My personal view is that they are just different sets of beliefs that are accepted to bring comfort and peace of mind to the believer.
I don't know how I found this guy (probably searching for magic), but this particular video is very relevant to the topic, and it was the first thing to come up in my mind when I read the OP. If you give him a couple minutes he's actually quite normal.
The relevant bits start around 9:25, where he tells you his typical day. I found the part about different kinds of meditation particularly interesting, because I'm interested in Buddhism and chakras and related things. Here's the video. He's apparently a Wiccan.
Some of his videos aren't informative, but some are. Pick and choose, but stay away from the random ones that have no meaning because they're probably really boring.
Edit:
On January 10 2012 12:51 theBALLS wrote: I understand where you are coming from, but I just hope that, as much as most of us are cynical about it, we remain open minded.
I'm not asking if the stuff they do is real, I'm wondering if anyone knows anyone of the like. Because they actually seem to discuss matters like level headed, normal people like you and I. Even within their community, they sometimes diss off people that mistake coincidence for magic, like hersenen just did.
The reason for this thread is to try and understand what these people are like in real life.
You mean "people that mistake magic for coincidence," right? Yeah, I tend to laugh at people who mistake synchronicity / "super"natural events for coincidence, too. Doesn't make me crazy, but people who do mistake synchronicity for anything but tend to call me that. After my first really deep meditation I realized that your "imagination" (at least, what people refer to as imagination) if it can even be called that, is very powerful. Thoughts become things, you know. Have you ever tried to imagine while watching TV? It's pretty hard. Anyway I'm being kinda scatterbrained, because I can't explain some things very well, so I'll stop here.
Edit 2: I find it hard to believe that magic can be used to kill someone remotely, as this violates the law of free will. Also, I'm not a magic practitioner but I think it's more likely to find one on TL than a member of the Flat Earth Society. Some "magic" has basis in reality, and potheads have reasons to be interested in magic due to weed's connection to psychedelics and shamanism. I think as gamer nerds you'll have an easier time finding the intelligent long-haired bearded type on TL than you would finding someone who believes the earth is flat, but that's just me. See the High Thread as a reference. And look, you found one!
I always figured this was just a way for less talented people to get internet fame.
EDIT : Or IRL fame if you count the jokers in reality series like Ghost Hunters parading around abandoned houses at night trying to photograph "orbs." Or capture static that remotely sounds like someone talking. lol
On January 10 2012 12:46 CrazyAsian wrote: I think you have a better chance of finding someone here that is a member of the Flat Earth Society than a magical practitioner.
I spent months arguing with FE'ers for a Philosophy paper, I think more of them consider the FE an exercise in logic than an actual conspiracy theory.
On January 10 2012 16:27 Sinensis wrote: I always figured this was just a way for less talented people to get internet fame.
EDIT : Or IRL fame if you count the jokers in reality series like Ghost Hunters parading around abandoned houses at night trying to photograph "orbs." Or capture static that remotely sounds like someone talking. lol
The only episode I've ever watched was because a friend sent it to me and the people didn't notice a homeless guy moved into the celler every night and they could hear him moving around... I couldn't stop laughing for awhile
I'd say that everybody has to believe in something. Even atheists believe there is no God.
Thing with the believing is that your mind will play trick on you. Your mind and body are one. If your mind suffers so shall your body. If your mind is flourishing then your body will too.
This has been observed in real life, and scientists call it by the name "placebo effect". In psychology it is known that if you believe in getting better you actually will. There was an interesting experiment(in 19th century?) where the doctor would heal patient's mind with giant magnets. And it worked. Little later they found out that even if they removed/replaced the magnets the patients would heal nevertheless. In pharmacy when they test the effect of a new pill, there is always a test group that has been told they have "the new magic pill", but receive a pill that does nothing.
So if you are in a circle of people who believe in magic and somebody casts a curse spell on you(for example some form of jinxed curse), you will become jinxed because your mind will be occupied by the "effect". Eventually if someone casts a death spell on you, you may start to subconsciously act differently in critical situations, making you more prone to accidents(you will attract them more; for example you would get into car situation but freeze in the critical moment and thus crash and die).
EPT
