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Archive-name: magick/paranormal/spells-hexes-magic/faq
Version: 200107 Posting-frequency: monthly or by inquiry See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge 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 (duo@teleport.com) 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:chameleon_@hotmail.com), 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 (cat@luckymojo.com): "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:ladythella@juno.com) 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 (cat@luckymojo.com), 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 (cat@luckymojo.com) 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:servellose@juno.com) 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:ceci@lysator.liu.se) 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:robin@winternet.com) 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:markk@cypress.West.Sun.COM) 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: nagasiva@luckymojo.com (tyagi nagasiva) ashton@netcom.com (AShub) oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown) burkard@kodak.com (Kim Burkard) dshoem@aol.com (Dshoem) kdavidso@library.uwaterloo.ca (Karen) kim@newton.apple.com (peter kim) robin@winternet.com (robin) dclxvi@best.com (josh geller) chameleon_@hotmail.com (Chameleon) ladythella@juno.com (Child of Fire) servellose@juno.com (Simon Progrediore) duo@teleport.com (Tom Schuler) If you have suggestions for changes or additions to this document, contact the Editor (suggestions@luckymojo.com). ------------------------------------------------------------- Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. -- W. Occam 63 Copyrights This document is copyright (c) 2003, cat@luckymojo.com. 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. ================================================================ cat@luckymojo.com (cat) Editor, alt.paranormal.spells.hexes.magic FAQ FIN 418 User Contributions: 1 Aristide Mboneye ⚠ Aug 14, 2022 @ 8:08 am My wife and I will forever remain grateful to Dr Amber for his divine intervention in our lives. We received the shock of a lifetime when we realized we've won a $3 million dollars house and $1 million dollars cash in the Australian lottery we played. All this was possible because of Dr Amber who gave us the right lottery winning numbers with his magical spell and he can help you too if really you believe in his work. To know more, email: amberlottotemple @gmail. COM Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:
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