Dear John

A thought  is that 401 years ago the Pendle witches were accused of murder 
by witchcraft, and most hung for it,  having got by living hand to mouth 
witching/begging about the community for up to fifty years before being 
arrested - so although political and religious climate contributed to their 
final demise, it was the perceived criminal end of the maleficium, not the 
perceived use of magic as a tool that actually brought the convictions.

regards

Melissa.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jon Sharp (LTS)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 21, 2013 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] opposite of an exorcist


Dear all
I have been following this thread with interest and although it is slightly 
tangential to the main subject it has prompted me to reflect on the 
relationship of Practical Ethics to magical praxis.
Mogg makes the point that the causal power of magic (however termed) is 
a-moral; but in terms of the moral position of the practitioner is it more 
appropriate to apply a consequential or 'virtue ethics' framework? It 
strikes me that the liminal nature of much magical praxis would make it 
extremely difficult to apply a deontological ethical framework - although 
there maybe some theurgic models where this might be appropriate?
interested in any thoughts on this
Bw
Jon Sharp

________________________________________
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic 
[[log in to unmask]] on behalf of mandrake 
[[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 21 July 2013 11:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] opposite of an exorcist

Dear Friends

I think the author of this below is just in denial about the tradition -
or at least perhaps it is no longer part of wicca (officially) ?
But as several of the informants have said it is part of magical
practice of the ancient world -
as in late egyptian magick of sending "evil sleep", "diabole etc" -
Egyptian "heka" /theurgy is slightly different to
later practices called "magic", "witchcraft" etc.
It's sometimes said that there was no "witchcraft" in pharaonic egypt -
no real need for the
"outlaw" or "victim?" tag -
Heka is a power that is in a sense amoral - and can be wielded by the
gods, the aristocrats, scribes, commoners equally -
it is not "heka" pe se that is good or bad but the intention that is
lawful or not - hence using magic to attack the king is illegal not
because tis magic but because
you are trying to kill the king (sending evil sleep or "demons" is a
common way to try to kill someone )

Knowledge of the mechanics is necessary if one is to counter these
attacks and heal - the medical paradigm uses these kinds of entities as
part of the reasoning.

There is abviously some sort of parallel between the african religions
of Loa etc and Ancient Egyptian ideology -
but the expert on that would be Randolph Conner - with whom i hope to
work some more material in the future -
the extent of influence of african religion on european paganism has
probable been underestimated.



senebty

Mogg Morgan




> >From a friend, a well respected published author and witch
>
>
>
> I'll have to disagree that Witches are the opposite of an exorcist.
>
> Long before the advent of Christianity, "the devil" as most people know 
> him in this day and age did not exist. He was devised as a figurehead to 
> scare Pagans into converting to the newly found religion, Christianity. 
> While Pagans certainly believed in the duality of Dark and Light, good and 
> evil, the concept of one main figure, Satan, and his minions, the demons, 
> were unheard of.
>
>
> Today, the great majority of witches still do not believe in the concept 
> of the devil, so to pin them as those who cause intentional demonic 
> possession isn't a correct assumption. We neither worship the devil, do 
> his bidding, or consort with him. It's impossible to be in league with 
> someone we don't believe in. A good friend of mine who is a Catholic 
> priest and exorcist states that from his experiences, the typical victim 
> of a possession is one who is highly religious. He also claims that true 
> possessions are few and far between. Emotional instability and mental 
> illness are high on the list of causes for so-called possessions. With all 
> the paranormal television shows on the air, the public is lead to believe 
> that there are demons around every corner, and wannabe, self-proclaimed 
> "exorcists" are out there preaching their gospel that demons are 
> bountiful, but that seems not to be the case in the eyes of those who are 
> trained by the church and are hands on in dealing with cases of supposed 
> possession.
>
>
> Witches are not evil crones who sit around a cauldron casting spells and 
> calling out demons from the bowels of Hell. (As with The Devil, we also do 
> not believe in the concept of Hell). Mine is an Earth-based religion, 
> where "Do as ye will but harm none" is how I live my life. We revere 
> nature, all sentient beings and above all, do no harm because we believe 
> in Karma and the Threefold Law which states that what we put out, we 
> receive three times back, whether good or bad. So while there may be many 
> causes of true possession, witches are not one of them.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ted Hand" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 8:07:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] opposite of an exorcist
>
> a witch
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 7:18 AM, Raymond Salvatore Harmon < 
> [log in to unmask] > wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Hello all
>
> I have been wondering if there is a technical (theological) term for 
> someone who causes intentional demonic possession? The opposite of an 
> exorcist?
>
> Any insights would be appreciated.
>
> Yours
> RSH
>
>
>
>