White or Black Magick?

White magick is good, black magick is evil. Really? I don’t know who decided that magick should be defined by the terms white or black, but do have to think it may have been someone employing the craft to get something they wanted and then feeling guilty for doing it.

There is no such thing as white or black magick. Magick is magick. Magick doesn’t care what intention the user has. It works the same way for anyone employing its power. Some practitioners might have purer reasons than others, but it isn’t the magick that’s good or not so good. That onus is on the one using it.

The one catalyst that effectuates results in magick is will. Intention will see results if the will is strong enough.

There’s an interesting consequence of designating magical practices either white or black. The usual tools of rituals and spells have become biased also. Historically, candles, crystals, herbs, pentagrams, stones, and the like are part of the spell-casting process. Now, if black candles are used they must mean one is invoking negativity or the devil. Only white candles are a symbol of purity. And one should make sure to only use the favored herbs and stones of those on the so called white side.

And pentagrams! One of the first thoughts that comes to the minds of most is that the pentacle represents Satan. Wiccans will point out that the use of the five-sided star is fine as long as it has only one point upright. Otherwise, two points up would indicate the horns of the evil one. My question is, Why? Horns have always symbolized wisdom.

Have you seen Michelangelo’s painting of Moses with them?

Pentacles have become one of the most maligned symbols in use today. They once were considered sacred. The Catholic church was one of the first to use them as such. Pentagrams are interesting and far from representing the Prince of Darkness.

The pentagram is known as a star polygon and ultimately it’s measurements equal 1.618 or phi, which also equals the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is a line that is divided into two parts.  The long part divided by he short part equals the entire length divided by the long part. 

The Fibonacci Sequence will also converge on the Golden Ratio. In the Fibonacci Sequence, which is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc., each number is the sum of the two previous numbers.

While these two functions seem diverse, the Fibonacci Sequence will converge on the Golden Ratio – it will produce 1.618.

The Golden Ratio is also called the Divine Proportion. It is ubiquitous in nature and also found in science, the arts, and mathematics. The idea of associating the pentagram with Satan lacks reason and rests only on a manufactured paradigm.

Over years, Hollywood and other media, and some religious groups have portrayed magick, witchcraft, meditation tools such as tarot and astrology, paranormal occurrences, and other like interests, something to be wary of and basically evil. There’s still a lot of interest in these things though, as evidenced by the many tv shows and movies on them available to the public every day. The problem with a lot of these programs is they generally adhere to the idle belief that pentagrams, black candles, ouija boards, people getting three scratches, etc. prove something evil is happening. Again, according to whom? Where do these tenets come from? Probably the same people or organizations that attempt to manipulate and control people into conforming to their own belief systems.

I am not saying that dark things don’t occur. They can and do at times. But bad things can happen with bouquets of pretty flowers, white clothing, and hearts and smiley faces, just as easily as not.

Tools of both ritual and spell work hold neither good nor evil energy within themselves. The energy that infuses them is the energy coming from the person / persons using them. White isn’t pure, black isn’t evil, and pentagrams are mathematically interesting.

– ashanta

Horns & Skulls

What is it that evokes so many different responses to the sight of either horns or skulls?  …and most of them are negative.  Horns and skulls were things to be treasured, appreciated, and sometimes venerated before and until the time that religion decided it could make money from a frightened and controlled population.

Horns were not considered a sign of evil or demonic until the Romans were forcing Pagans to give up their gods such as Hathor, Moloch, Pan, Baal, etc. Around that same time Christian art began portraying Jews as evil and depicted them with horns.  Until then they were a symbol of wisdom and a sign of being a ruler.

In 1505 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to sculpture Moses to adorn his tomb.  Michelangelo created his work with Moses adorned with horns.  They represented his “glorified” head as he descended Mt. Sinai with the 10 Commandments – –  for the second time.

There are other depictions of Moses with horns, also. There is a fresco in St. Andrews Church in Westhall England, a sculpture in Vilnius, Lithuania, and The Well of Moses in a museum in Dijon.

Skulls were another representation of strength, wisdom, and power.  They were neither demonic nor evil until about the same time that horns fell into discretization.

A few examples of this are the Celts use of skulls to depict the seat of the soul.  Winged skulls such as those on old grave markers were considered a sign of life beyond death. Skulls have historically been used to repel evil and achieve wellness and success.  The skull & crossbones symbol represented spiritual rebirth through transformation of a greater spiritual understanding of how the world works.

Some cultures practiced drinking from skulls.  For them, it represented acquiring the traits of the deceased they respected.  The skulls of their relatives were cleaned and gilded to drink from in a ritual of honor for the dead.  This practice is similar to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead – when skulls are decorated for festivities to revere those that have gone on before.  This celebration begins at midnight on 31 October and runs to 02 November.  It coincides with All Saints Day, in Christian lore, and with our much celebrated Halloween.

–   ashanta

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