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Occultism has been a thread that has run through my entire life. At times it has been very overt, other times it has been more obscure, but it has always been there, whether I was conscious of it at the time or not. I'm still sometimes surprised when it surfaces from unexpected quarters, though.
One of my siblings has had a pretty rough life and has made a lot of questionable decisions. Who hasn't, right? But she has torpedoed her life and her and her husband recently found themselves destitute and with their children removed from their home. Generally, I don't like state intervention in family affairs, but my sister was negligent and is addicted to drugs, so in my opinion removing the kids was the lesser of two evils.
My sister leans pretty heavily on our mom, who has reluctantly put her foot down and ceased giving her financial help. Mom is retired and while she certainly isn't impoverished, she worked hard all her life and is by no means wealthy, either. Sis still wheedles and whines and manipulates to extract regular tribute, though. As a mage, I've had to work hard to stay out of the situation, because the temptation to bind my sister or hotfoot her out of mom's life has been pretty strong from time to time. If it wasn't for the strict magical ethics that have been instilled in me by my training, I would have let it rip months ago. I also know that mom wouldn't want me to intervene (but I'm a mage, and one of the things we are known for is meddling, so the urge resurfaces at intervals).
My sister doesn't perform magic, as far as I know. Consciously, anyway. She converted to Christianity a few years back after having many experiences with demons and ghosts. Or so she says. I think Christianity is good for a lot of people, for the record. It's a valid path and many of the things done in its name and by its practitioners shouldn't reflect on it negatively as a path for spiritual development. My sister almost immediately became toxically holier-than-thou and became a self-proclaimed expert on all things Biblical, though.
I would say, based on my training and studies, that my sister is almost certainly a "natural witch", in the old sense of being a person who has the inherent power to curse and wield malefic powers. She has no training that I'm aware of and would surely reject the label. Hell, she'd probably curse me just for saying it. Still, if the curly toed shoe fits she can wear it as far as I'm concerned.
Having brought it up, I should probably mention that I'm not opposed witchcraft as a spiritual path, either. It seems to be a mixed bag in terms of practitioners and what they do and don't with their magical skills, with some using malefica and others avoiding it. My specific ethical prohibitions against malefic magic and the like aren't universal even amongst mages, although I've been around the block enough to know that those prohibitions exist for sound reasons. I've also had enough malefica thrown at me for petty reasons to know that lots of practitioners really get off on cursing people. To each their own; they will reap what they've sown in the fullness of time.
Anyway, Saturday evening I got a weird text from my mom. My sister had hit her up for money again. My mom was initially noncommittal. Sis then sent her a text in a foreign language. Mom laughingly asked if it was a curse, and my sister said she didn't know how to curse people. Mom ended up taking her the money she wanted and getting her and her husband ice cream; apparently no one mentioned the text until mom got a hold of me later and sent me a screenshot.
Mom knows I'm a magician, and she is a bit of a dabbler in astrology and tarot herself, so she wanted some insight into the message (she is also internet illiterate and needs help with some tasks).
The text read "Nu neglecti sa ararati ospitalia te caci, facand acest lucru, unii au primit ingrii ca opaseti far sa stie" which I initially thought may be Latin (anyone who has studied Latin will now know that I haven't, at all). Turns out it's Romanian and is a Bible verse, Hebrews 13:2. The translation is something like "Do not neglect to show hospitality because, by doing so, some have received angels as guests without knowing."
Apparently my sister's husband has Romanian roots. My mom doesn't speak or read Romanian, obviously. When I told her what the message meant, she was relieved.
I'm not.
One definition of magic is creating changes in consciousness in accordance with will. I'd say my sister intended to change mom's consciousness with her message, and not in a way that was to mom's benefit. My sister dressed up her black magic manipulations with a Bible verse, but she still intended to manipulate, confuse, and cloud mom's judgement. It's far from the first time Christian people of my acquaintance have performed what we would call malefic magic using the Bible and their faith as tools to do the work of evil.
An odd feature of my deeper initiation into the Mysteries is how the people around me have begun to embrace magic and other spiritual practices right along with me. I guess it's at least partially because it's trendy and there are a lot of spiritual seekers disaffected with mainstream religion and looking for something else, but my world has gotten more and more enchanted as I have moved forward on the Path. Sometimes that has been a pleasure and source of delight.
Sometimes it hasn't.
One of my siblings has had a pretty rough life and has made a lot of questionable decisions. Who hasn't, right? But she has torpedoed her life and her and her husband recently found themselves destitute and with their children removed from their home. Generally, I don't like state intervention in family affairs, but my sister was negligent and is addicted to drugs, so in my opinion removing the kids was the lesser of two evils.
My sister leans pretty heavily on our mom, who has reluctantly put her foot down and ceased giving her financial help. Mom is retired and while she certainly isn't impoverished, she worked hard all her life and is by no means wealthy, either. Sis still wheedles and whines and manipulates to extract regular tribute, though. As a mage, I've had to work hard to stay out of the situation, because the temptation to bind my sister or hotfoot her out of mom's life has been pretty strong from time to time. If it wasn't for the strict magical ethics that have been instilled in me by my training, I would have let it rip months ago. I also know that mom wouldn't want me to intervene (but I'm a mage, and one of the things we are known for is meddling, so the urge resurfaces at intervals).
My sister doesn't perform magic, as far as I know. Consciously, anyway. She converted to Christianity a few years back after having many experiences with demons and ghosts. Or so she says. I think Christianity is good for a lot of people, for the record. It's a valid path and many of the things done in its name and by its practitioners shouldn't reflect on it negatively as a path for spiritual development. My sister almost immediately became toxically holier-than-thou and became a self-proclaimed expert on all things Biblical, though.
I would say, based on my training and studies, that my sister is almost certainly a "natural witch", in the old sense of being a person who has the inherent power to curse and wield malefic powers. She has no training that I'm aware of and would surely reject the label. Hell, she'd probably curse me just for saying it. Still, if the curly toed shoe fits she can wear it as far as I'm concerned.
Having brought it up, I should probably mention that I'm not opposed witchcraft as a spiritual path, either. It seems to be a mixed bag in terms of practitioners and what they do and don't with their magical skills, with some using malefica and others avoiding it. My specific ethical prohibitions against malefic magic and the like aren't universal even amongst mages, although I've been around the block enough to know that those prohibitions exist for sound reasons. I've also had enough malefica thrown at me for petty reasons to know that lots of practitioners really get off on cursing people. To each their own; they will reap what they've sown in the fullness of time.
Anyway, Saturday evening I got a weird text from my mom. My sister had hit her up for money again. My mom was initially noncommittal. Sis then sent her a text in a foreign language. Mom laughingly asked if it was a curse, and my sister said she didn't know how to curse people. Mom ended up taking her the money she wanted and getting her and her husband ice cream; apparently no one mentioned the text until mom got a hold of me later and sent me a screenshot.
Mom knows I'm a magician, and she is a bit of a dabbler in astrology and tarot herself, so she wanted some insight into the message (she is also internet illiterate and needs help with some tasks).
The text read "Nu neglecti sa ararati ospitalia te caci, facand acest lucru, unii au primit ingrii ca opaseti far sa stie" which I initially thought may be Latin (anyone who has studied Latin will now know that I haven't, at all). Turns out it's Romanian and is a Bible verse, Hebrews 13:2. The translation is something like "Do not neglect to show hospitality because, by doing so, some have received angels as guests without knowing."
Apparently my sister's husband has Romanian roots. My mom doesn't speak or read Romanian, obviously. When I told her what the message meant, she was relieved.
I'm not.
One definition of magic is creating changes in consciousness in accordance with will. I'd say my sister intended to change mom's consciousness with her message, and not in a way that was to mom's benefit. My sister dressed up her black magic manipulations with a Bible verse, but she still intended to manipulate, confuse, and cloud mom's judgement. It's far from the first time Christian people of my acquaintance have performed what we would call malefic magic using the Bible and their faith as tools to do the work of evil.
An odd feature of my deeper initiation into the Mysteries is how the people around me have begun to embrace magic and other spiritual practices right along with me. I guess it's at least partially because it's trendy and there are a lot of spiritual seekers disaffected with mainstream religion and looking for something else, but my world has gotten more and more enchanted as I have moved forward on the Path. Sometimes that has been a pleasure and source of delight.
Sometimes it hasn't.