- Baneful Magic or “Cursing”, Negative Consequences or Simply a Price Tag?
- Combative Magic in the Real World
In the present day magical subculture there appear to be two main camps on the topic of harmful magic and whether or not it is a worthy pursuit. By harmful magic I mean what many people call black magic or baneful magic, i.e. magic designed to cause trouble or harm to another person or group of people, either directly or indirectly.
The two primary voices I hear on the issue are:
1. “New Age” Magicians, also called the light and love brigade (by me), these well-meaning people are often living in a distorted reality where “negativity”, meaning bad shit in general, can be ignored away. I imagine it’s devastating for them when reality brushes hard against their plans. Anyway these folks typically oppose any kind of harmful magic, even saying crazy things like such attempts will “instantly fail” (like a video game?) or that “karma” will get you if you cast magic that hurts.
2. “Black Magicians”, including neo-satanists, leftovers from the Slayer era of heavy metal, and the dorks who write the Brotherhood of the Flame material and those like them. Odds are if you’ve read any material from or otherwise encountered any of the chaps under this heading you have been treated Thto a front row seat for some juvenile bullshit.
Disclaimers:
There are many subgroups within each of the above represented positions. My point is that most writers and practitioners seem to express one of these views: it’s bad don’t do it or join us as we all transform into deities.
It’s Safe to Say I Don’t Endorse Either Camp
There are definitely other opinions out there, you probably just won’t find them in the mainstream literature or blogosphere. My attitude is pretty straightforward and goes about like this:
Life is Combative and Sometimes People are Mean
See what I did there? I injected some reality into the discussion.
Life can be a bitch and there are people in this world who will fuck with you and even hurt you if you let them. I studied martial arts for 25 years (before I got old and lazy) and it turned out to be useful on a handful of occasions. I didn’t run around kicking random asses of course. Who would do that? By the same token there have been times I saw fit to utilize harmful magic to protect, deter, or avenge.
I sleep fine with that. I haven’t hurt anyone who didn’t have it coming.
As for the whole karma bit. Learn what the word means and then hit me up. It’s about action and reaction, and the concept is closer to Newton than Ghandi, ironically.
Karma can be managed, folks. You don’t need to suffer heinously because you gave some awful bastard what they had coming. this is especially true in those “hand of karma” moments wherein we are the mechanism through which karma delivers what is due, but that is another tale. The backlash, if we call it that, from combative magical efforts can be mitigatged.
It’s like I said in my last post on this topic: violence is often not a free activity. You may well lose a tooth or at least bleed from your nose if you choose to enter a fistfight. Why should it be different with magical violence? If you aren’t willing to bleed at all, you have no business fighting or the cause you thought you had isn’t really worth the trouble.
Sometimes you have to make a stand.
Sometimes people need to be shut down in their wicked actions against others.
Sometimes life just sucks and you lash out about it. It’s a very human thing to do.
Don’t Deprive Yourself of a Full Toolbox
Magic considered harmful or combative can have a variety of uses and teach us many lessons, including how to protect against this kind of magic. My advice to those who are mature and have a strong work ethic is do not omit baneful magic just because other people are ignorant or afraid and want you to join them.
Be well-rounded. Study everything at least early on until you find your specialty.
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