FoolishPeople

Magic and Paganism: what's right for you?

When I think about the diverse world of paganism, the many many different shapes and sizes it can come in, I do not automatically think of magic. For me paganism is as much about practical things as it is meta-physical or magical things. A magical act can happen at any time and does not necessarily have to involve robed figures with pentagrams and wands. There can be as much power in a positive act, which changes something in accordance with will, that occurs in everyday life as there is in a spell or sigil. If the will is strong, there is a way...

When I first became involved with magick I soon found myself memorising complex symbols and even working on getting the pronounciation of Hebrew words correct. It was High Magick - it was associated with the ancient Kabala (which seems to have an unlimited variation of spellings!) - I was enthusiastic, and it was all that I knew, and I made amazing progress in those first few months... It was only after my enthusiasm had gradually waned over time due to life, the universe and everything demanding my full attention, that I came at paganism anew, from a different direction.

Magic - without the 'k' - need not be complicated. You do not need to learn archangels names, or resonate in perfect Hebrew... In fact, quite the opposite is true. Call it 'low' magic if you will, though personally I find that slightly derogatory - natural magic is a better term... Paganism is your own personal thing, and is more powerful if you can understand and get in touch with your own heritage. Ancient Hebrew, Shinto, the Native American Indians ways, or even Voodoo, may be complex and highly interesting, but you cannot effectively use this sort of system unless you can trace your roots back here. Okay, I know - we're all originally out of Africa... and the middle east (Babylon, etc) has been called the Cradle of Civilisation. But persoanlly, they don't do anything for me - we have moved so far away in time and distance from that culture now, it seems silly to try and go back and emulate it, let alone try to teach ourselves their most sacred magical mysteries. You need to be a bit more recent than this, and more local. Altogether more relevant.

Living in England - north western Europe - the obvious influences of ancient (but not too ancient) times comes from the great pan-Germanic or Teutonic movement of the dark to middle ages. There were four main branches of this movement - in the east there were the Goths, to the south the Germans, to the north there were the Norse, and to the west the Anglo-Saxons. Both the latter two peoples invaded Britain and left their mark upon us, physically and spiritually. The Northern Ways have been best preserved in the records of the Scandinavian Norse however - the writings of the Eddas, which deals with Odin/Woden, the Norse myths and magic have survived the centuries and are indicative of the whole Teutonic movement.. Along with the slightly older Celtic Ways of Britain and Ireland, this is the magic that would best be suited for most of us indigenous people. Modern wicca / witchcraft came across to us from the anglo-saxons in the middle ages as wiccecraeft, the Lord and the Lady - the important dual deities within wicca - are Freyr and Freyja, straight out of the Norse/Germanic system.

It seems a very logical thing to me to practice the paganism / magic that is local to the individual. I am not saying that power cannot be gained, and put to good use, through becoming a Cabalist, or Buddhist monk, or whatever, but if you (as a person of British heritage) had to choose between Buddha or Odin, Vishnu or Thor, the Archangel Uriel or Lugh Lamfada... which would feel more comfortable... honestly? (I'm assuming you know you those deities are, but you get the point) Your true path will offer you the least resistance.

I am still finding my way - but I am not going to make the mistakes of my dim and distant past again. My soul is a northern European soul - with all due respect... what is the Kabbalah to me..? Fascinating, true - helpful? Yes, if I can put in the hours and effort needed to decipher it - but is it really who I am..? A part of my heritage..? No, it isn't. I would be better off reading the Eddas, the Mabinogian, or the Book of Invasions.

This makes sense to me personally...... but each to their own... :-

Indian forest guards terrorised by women strippers

Indian forest guards fighting timber thieves in the eastern state of Jharkhand are being frightened off by women who start stripping and yelling for help when their male accomplices are arrested, media reports said.

"It is proving tough to deal with these women. It has almost become a regular practice for them to strip and we end up releasing the culprits to avoid trouble," said B.K. Singh, a forest official in Jharkhand's Chakulia forest.

Tokyo Plastic

Words can not describe exactly how fucking brilliant these people are, just visit and see for yourselves.

The lost boys, thrown out of US sect so that older men can marry more wives

Up to 1,000 teenage boys have been separated from their parents and thrown out of their communities by a polygamous sect to make more young women available for older men, Utah officials claim.

Loch Ness Boat Operators Identify Kill Zone

 

For several months rumors have been swirling around Loch Ness about a 4-inch barbed tooth, possibly belonging to a giant mutation of an eel species that inhabits the waterway, found in the mutilated carcass of a half-eaten deer back in March by two American college students.

Now, several boat operators have come forward to speak with Nessie Investigator William McDonald, confirming the area where the deer was located is known to locals as a “kill-zone.”

You really must

If you haven't taken a peek already, following the recent stories about its content, please take a peek at Michael Jackson's website now - just for me...

www.mjjsource.com

Wow

I Did Have Blogger's Block, But Then....

Believe it or not, it was almost day light on the other side of my flat.

Tip; Dont live near a huge crane, if you are in anyway nervous of lightning and really nasty-arsed storms.

 

Second Indy Media Server

On Mon 20th June, Bristol Indymedia (IMC Bristol) received an email from the police asking to contact them with reference to a posting on the IMC Bristol newswire. IMC Bristol volunteers appointed a solicitor and started briefing them to contact the police on their behalf. On Tue 21st June, the police contacted an IMC Bristol volunteer asking for IP logs. The subject of the police enquiry was a posting claiming that damage had been done to either some cars on a train transport, the transport itself, or the railway line.

The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race

To science we owe dramatic changes in our smug self-image. Astronomy taught us that our earth isn’t the center of the universe but merely one of billions of heavenly bodies. From biology we learned that we weren’t specially created by God but evolved along with millions of other species.

Now archaeology is demolishing another sacred belief: that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress.

In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism, that curse our existence.

Propaganda Images From Soviet Magazines