Ben's posting on morality brings that entire issue to the fore- going right
from curses, the consideration of performing the Toad-Bone rite, to the
usual pragmatic moral questions that magical practitioners deal with on a
regular basis
and most of them come down to (words to effect of) 'if you are going to
perform some ritual to change the world in some way, it has a moral
consequence, be it on you or on others, so how do you choose what to do, and
what not to do?'
i've had a few terribly hard choices to make over the years, and from
talking to many a magical practitioner in my research, so have they.
Has anyone published any research on magical morality in the modern era? I'd
be v interested to read about it
dave e
----- Original Message -----
From: "Caduceus Books" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 10:53 PM
Subject: Re: Folklore
> Greetings!
>
> > If you consider various early modern grimoires of goetic magic, some
> >of them present ritual actions that, should they work, would to my mind
> >be reprehensible;
>
> > I am thinking in particular of some of the spells to bring a chosen
> >woman to the circle ready and willing to perform sexually, which
> >amounts to a kind of magical rape.
>
> I to am exploring an accuracy / sympathy dynamic though in a different
> way. My original posting was rather simplistic.
>
> You are absolutely right about some of them being reprehensible if
> effective. Some are also reprehensible if ineffective. One I am working
> on at the moment involves the sacrifice of a piglet which to me is
> abhorrent. However I do find the world view that encompasses the act
> fascinating. To give you an idea. Daemonic forces are invoked to
> protect the secrecy of the working, Christian forces are called upon to
> then summon a Daimonic Genius Loci who is then takes possession of the
> pig and thus brought into the centre of the circle where the pig is
> killed to release the Daimon who is then compelled to sign a book that
> has been created during the ritual. The book is then baptised as a child
> to give it life. I think what allows me to present this text
> sympathetically is that the text states that someone can partake of the
> power of the original magical working and the original grimoire without
> having to repeat the ritual. It states that if you have the original
> grimoire or one like it and read out the conjurations then the original
> Daimon has undertaken to send one of his minions. Various aspects of the
> grimoire are specified, such as binding, number of pages, nature of
> paper etc. and these specifications are being followed so it is a
> talismanic publication rather than academic. Certainly it is sympathetic
> to the world view of the writer - though I do not share that world view
> as it requires belief that Christian powers command the Universe
>
> Some other manuscripts that I publishing I am reproducing accurately
> though in a different way than you mean. I have disbound the original,
> each sheet is reproduced and then the printed sheets are rebound in the
> same manner as the original in a case sympathetic to the period of the
> manuscript. Thus I have created a true facsimile that actually looks and
> feels like a manuscript. Aesthetically and Introduction written from any
> early 21st Century viewpoint would jar.
>
> One text coming up some time in the future I go beyond reproducing
> accurately to add something to the text which is in sympathy with it.
> The texts gives instructions for invoking angels into ones dreams to
> give guidance. Unlike the Goetic texts this repeatedly emphasises that
> this must only be done for the benefit of oneself and ones neighbours,
> and never a harmful manner. I will be creating the talismans that are
> described in the text so that, if people choose they can follow the
> texts instructions and place them under their pillow or, rather
> quaintly, inside their night caps. Curiously most of the text is very
> Protestant-Christian though there is ambiguity as to whether these
> prayers are actually to be used. They may be a disguise.
>
> Other publications will be relevant to folk magic, witchcraft,
> late-Medieval clerical underground, Rosicrucianism, proto-Golden Dawn
> and folklore. All are either otherwise unpublished, or variant from
> previously published versions or, at the very least, difficult to
> otherwise obtain. The idea is that all should be elegant and striking
> objects in themselves.
>
> If anyone reading this is interested in receiving information about my
> publications then best thing to do is email me off-list. I will add your
> email address to the list of people who receive notification as they
> come out.
>
> I am also on the look out for suitable texts to publish. It occurs to me
> that academics may well come across suitable texts in their work. I pay
> finders fees, translator's royalties (I do wonder what texts may be out
> there in other languages which could usefully be brought to the
> attention of the interested English reader).
>
> With my best wishes
>
> Ben
> --
> Ben Fernee
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