Anyone here know how to do tarot readings?

[John John]

It's the same general principle as the law of attraction. Spells are just focused intent/focused energy given a name. Kind of like praying. (Blasphemy, right??)

 

Books... let's see.

 

Grimoire for the Green Witch - Ann Moura

 

The Witches Almanac always has some in it, and tends to point you in the right direction re: timing, incense, etc. if you want to go in for all of the trappings.

 

Any of the Scott Cunningham books are going to have some basic spellwork in them, along with the traditions of his practice.

 

You'd be fairly safe picking up anything, honestly. Don't be sucked in by the Silver RavenWolf books. Aside from that, go into a B&N and pick up something that looks interesting or look on Amazon.

 

Thank you Liraele for the suggestions!

[Thorshammer]

It doesnt have to be magical though, there is psychic stuff out there - and in my path, its all linked to belief over an actual being. Meaning, you use a nature spirit to bring you healing - the person really believes there is a nature spirit (enforced with tons of reading material that embedded the belief, or from his circle), is no different from a person who is so evolved in spirituality that he sees us all as spiritual being and energy, and taps into his own energy to bring healing - his belief again enforced by circle of others, or from reading material, etc. Thats my take on the subject, and thats why i reject other magical beliefs that i dont agree with, from what i read, its just enforcement to make belief your pathway to results - those are the reading materials that i stuck with (and where that spell worked).

 

Anyway, physic stuff is cool (or new age, or whatever people want to call it), you got astral projection, trying to reach out to the dead, predictions, reaching out to spirit guides, etc. that you can usually find from the occult books, but they to be more on some far eastern mystic. I remember spending hours trying to wake up the chakras so i can astral project and read auras. But to be honest, the occult stuff is a better read.

[Thorshammer]

Eastern Orthodox?

 

Or Esoteric. Which isn't necessarily specifically Christian...

 

Nah, i dont think thats it. I could be off with the letter, not sure. It will come to me.

[Liraele]

What do you consider "magic"? Just out of curiosity.

[Thorshammer]

What do you consider "magic"? Just out of curiosity.

 

I dont consider it anything, just whatever is needed to fuel belief to create a result. Like when i am on date mode... i have a ritual, i do the SAME exact thing i do on each date because i am usually successful on each date (and when i dont, i fail). I make sure i have a clean white T as an under-shirt. I do some push ups to get a pump (lol), and so on... and so on... this is my ritual, and somehow deep inside my mind; it creates results, because it fuels my belief that it will help. Its sort of like all those self help books that enforce positive thoughts so you can get good results. Or like banging my baseball bat 4 times on each side usually results in a basehit for me.

 

Like that book i read that said magic was just belief. It said religion and the belief in other beings is so powerful, belief is generated like crazy. We fear the dark, we sought answers for the dark, those answers become reality, and we use what we believe to be reality, to believe it can change reality.

 

I am not diehard into this, but this is what gave me results, and made more sense when you look at the occult and psychic connection.

 

Not sure i understand the question though, do you mean what fuels it, or where it comes from?

[Liraele]

No... what is it. I suppose what fuels it, where it comes from is a part of that... but what IS magic. What does it do, where does it go, what can it accomplish. It's the end of the day and my brain isn't working right, so that probably makes about as much sense as speaking in binary would.

 

Your answer sounds like superstition or ritual; is that magic?

[Thorshammer]

No... what is it. I suppose what fuels it, where it comes from is a part of that... but what IS magic. What does it do, where does it go, what can it accomplish. It's the end of the day and my brain isn't working right, so that probably makes about as much sense as speaking in binary would.

 

Your answer sounds like superstition or ritual; is that magic?

 

Its just belief enforcing results because its belief that makes it happen, and when you put a practice to it; it creates a strong belief. So ritual is done to enforce it further.

 

Like for example, say a poster wants my awesome advice about how to attract women. If i tell them, be confident and charming... best advice, but it wont trigger a belief in them. If i tell them, wear black more, it will bring out your facial hair more, try thursdays- studies show ladies night in clubs on thursday attract single women, use a half smile on first approach - and further and further i go on with details. The latter would enforce more in his belief that it will work, because he is performing actions to enforce his belief. Not sure if i can explain this well, but i havent read the book in 12 years.

 

Another example, if i tell you to get a rabbits foot, a rare flower from the mountain of boogerboobs, and cut the hair of a virigin lion... all that work would enforce belief, because you put so much work into it, that it fuels the result (you work hard for something, or get something rare, you believe it will work, just like we slave at work and believe we will be noticed). This is why i believe this is the strongest type of magic, and this is why i believe some people do this type of magic.

 

Another example... a prayer from the some remote region from some priest who is known to heal... will have a greater effect because of the travel time, the devotion to reach him, and the 'work" involved to get the prayer.

 

As for why its belief, i guess it activates a stronger connection to something (energy maybe), maybe astral, or it activates our chakras to action, i dont remember. But every occult practice or psychic attempts first start with the belief that it will work, and i remember this book making a point that without belief, magic will never work.

 

I remember when i some something on tv about voodoo. They said voodoo will not work if the person who is cursed doesnt believe it or know what just happened. So you will notice the voodoo priest explain what he did, "i cursed you, you will have great misfortune!" in hopes that the person will believe it will work.

 

I believe we are all spiritual beings inside vessels, all one, but still individual. We are the god source, and i believe the energy we used to mold reality when we pass is the same energy we use when we believe (my opinion, not sure if that was in the book but i doubt it). Or, what some people call... faith, another word can be PASSION.

 

Ok... now i really feel like i weirdo. Thanks Liraele, it doesnt help that i am cuurently reading about some women who is slowly starting to notice that the world is paranormal (fiction).

 

Why the question? What is it to you?

[agent1607307371]

Agnus Dei?

 

 

For books it really depends what you're into. Personally, I never have any feeling towards nature magic, wicca, ect so I couldn't tell you what are good books or not in that area.

 

I'm more link removed inclined (Phil Hynes wrote some good books - Prime Chaos for example and his website. And Peter Carrol - Liber Null.). I still recommend Magic Without Tears by Crowley. And Promethea and The Invisibles by Alan Moore and Grant Morrison respectively - comics about magic written by two actively practising magicians. If you want something you can do pretty much immediately, look into sigils. Visual Magick by Jan Fries is a good read, but lots of the information is really available online.

 

Ultimately I pick up what I like, and leave the rest. It's about building my own system, not forcing myself into one someone else has laid out.

[Thorshammer]

Maybe you guys know the book? It said magic something... it was a red book, or burgundy. It had to have been a modern book because i borrowed it from the library. This was 12 years ago.

 

Oh, i found what they were.. they were a gnostic group. Not sure if that was their name, "Gnostic"- it seems like a general term, but they had a sort of occult practice.

[lerenard]

Thorshammer I wasn't trying to be anything, just tried to joke and to point out that there is too much dirt and nonsense being poured to our ears lately about demonic/esoteric/magic/power and all that stuff.

I read Gérard Encausse (known as Papus) when I was 11. It was fascinating. I think that was a turning point in my life ahaha) I will never be the same after reading about how to levitate and how to make a salve that makes you travel in your sleep, so you can join a Witches' Sabbath...

[Liraele]

I always find it interesting to know what people deem "magical" or spiritual in nature. What they think is really behind it.

 

What is it to me? I've always kind of disliked the term "magic" (or magick as the occult community tends to use.) Anyway...

 

I tend to view everything as energy. Thoughts have power, and the more capable you are at directing those thoughts and the energy contained within them, the better odds you have of achieving a desired result. So, I guess an oversimplification would be either: we are magic, ourselves... or that energy is magic. What you do with it is up to you.

 

You're not a weirdo. Well, at least I don't think you're a weirdo. But I might be one by most standards, so take that for what it's worth.

 

Voodoo (properly Vodou or Vodoun) is actually pretty fascinating, and is another of those that has quite a stigma attached to it. Modern practice ties in fairly closely with Catholicism. The whole practice is just... interesting.

[Liraele]

 

Ultimately I pick up what I like, and leave the rest. It's about building my own system, not forcing myself into one someone else has laid out.

 

This is how I do it as well. Which really, really, REALLY bugs some people, I've noticed!

[Thorshammer]

The thing for me about voodoo and crowley, is that considering what i said about belief, and the enforcement of it by practice or word of mouth from what you consider a reliable source - i would never follow crowley or voodoo. I have years of seeing things one way, that if i were to shift perspective, there is no guarantee i wont see that practice as evil from doubt, and not have the result i want. Plus to me, its all just different channels - its how you see it and believe it that makes it work.

 

I remember what i did for that spell. I took a piece of paper and tried to direct an image of money to the paper- that was my focus. Before i did this i spent a long time meditating and preparing material. Then i took the paper and burned it, and imagined the energy (that in my imagination is trapped in the paper) is now released into the air. First time i did it a dollar hit my boot when i was talking to my mom about the occult (who told me to shut up that she didnt want to hear it), then i did the spell again, and i found 10 bucks in my pants, i have no idea where that money came from - and i was unemployed at the time.

 

I actually really liked the psychic touch though. I tried to reach out to my spiritual guide, i tried to enter the astral realm, read auras but nada. I am good at reading energies though, energies in people (thats what i do in dating, and thats why some people find it really hard to lie to me, i've caught a lot of women i dated at lies) and energies in houses.

 

I have a friend from enotalone who is my facebook friend. Her ex is a black magic practitioner, he comes from a strange family - his head is all messed up. She believes hes cursing her to this day.

[Liraele]

My ex before the one that brought me here was very into the "dark" aspects of the occult. He was a bit of a narcissist and really liked to feel like he had power that other people didn't. Looking back, it was fairly ridiculous. At the time, it was interesting, and I did learn a lot from him, though not what he probably would have intended (or liked to think). To be fair, the darker aspects have always appealed to me too - Kali Ma has always been one of the main goddesses that appealed to me, for example. However, I tend to walk the neutral line more than anything. I don't shun "light" or "dark" aspects of belief systems. I evaluate and accept what resonates with me... reject what doesn't. Some people call that "cherry-picking" when they are referring to belief systems within the pagan/new age/occult realm. It bothers a lot of people, but to me it really makes sense. Why would you hold close a belief that doesn't resonate with you? How are you supposed to follow/uphold something that quite simply doesn't feel right? Not that it's always going to be comfortable - but your beliefs should line up with who you are inside and out. They should be a guide, a reference point, a tool - all for growth.

 

Ah, curses. I tend to believe that they exist... but I also think that the person who is being "cursed" has some measure of control over it by the extent of their own belief. Making a conscious choice to repel the negative energy can have a fairly good effect on dispelling any damage. As can shielding and grounding oneself, if they are inclined toward doing so.

 

Energy work is interesting. (I use that word a lot! Ha ha. Ok, so the whole world fascinates me... I don't see anything wrong with that.) You might get a kick out of the Psychic Vampire Codex (you can get a large portion of it on the sacredtexts website for free), and Michelle Belanger's other works. I'm not a huge fan of hers, but her books do bring up many good points relating to psychic energy.

 

Magical Use of Thought Forms might also interest you. The author is Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. Googling "thought forms" or "psychic constructs" would also probably net you some results that will take you down an interesting rabbit hole.

[Thorshammer]

My ex before the one that brought me here was very into the "dark" aspects of the occult. He was a bit of a narcissist and really liked to feel like he had power that other people didn't. Looking back, it was fairly ridiculous.

 

Maybe i am a little like this too. The fact i read people so well makes me feel i have an "up" on them, while i completely hide what i show in return (maybe thats why i give off the player vibe). The whole power of the occult is what brought me to the occult in the first place - and i read more on the darker side of the occult, especially demonic stuff. Though i never practiced it.

 

At the time, it was interesting, and I did learn a lot from him, though not what he probably would have intended (or liked to think). To be fair, the darker aspects have always appealed to me too - Kali Ma has always been one of the main goddesses that appealed to me, for example.

 

Thats the goddess who made chucky in childs play!

 

However, I tend to walk the neutral line more than anything. I don't shun "light" or "dark" aspects of belief systems. I evaluate and accept what resonates with me... reject what doesn't. Some people call that "cherry-picking" when they are referring to belief systems within the pagan/new age/occult realm. It bothers a lot of people, but to me it really makes sense. Why would you hold close a belief that doesn't resonate with you? How are you supposed to follow/uphold something that quite simply doesn't feel right? Not that it's always going to be comfortable - but your beliefs should line up with who you are inside and out. They should be a guide, a reference point, a tool - all for growth.

 

Ah, curses. I tend to believe that they exist... but I also think that the person who is being "cursed" has some measure of control over it by the extent of their own belief. Making a conscious choice to repel the negative energy can have a fairly good effect on dispelling any damage. As can shielding and grounding oneself, if they are inclined toward doing so.

 

Energy work is interesting. (I use that word a lot! Ha ha. Ok, so the whole world fascinates me... I don't see anything wrong with that.) You might get a kick out of the Psychic Vampire Codex (you can get a large portion of it on the sacredtexts website for free), and Michelle Belanger's other works. I'm not a huge fan of hers, but her books do bring up many good points relating to psychic energy.

 

Magical Use of Thought Forms might also interest you. The author is Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. Googling "thought forms" or "psychic constructs" would also probably net you some results that will take you down an interesting rabbit hole.

 

Oh, cool. Some people have told me i was a energy vampire, i can charm people and i steal their energy - then when they dont see me for a while they stop being gaga over me. Is that what that vampire codex is about?

[Liraele]

Maybe i am a little like this too. The fact i read people so well makes me feel i have an "up" on them, while i completely hide what i show in return (maybe thats why i give off the player vibe). The whole power of the occult is what brought me to the occult in the first place - and i read more on the darker side of the occult, especially demonic stuff. Though i never practiced it.

 

I think that's fairly common. (What attracts people to the occult.)

 

Oh, cool. Some people have told me i was a energy vampire, i can charm people and i steal their energy - then when they dont see me for a while they stop being gaga over me. Is that what that vampire codex is about?

 

Yes, to an extent. It talks about the different types of vampires, energy needs, how to take, how to give, auras, etc. It's a decent read with a few dramatics in it.

[Thorshammer]

Thorshammer I wasn't trying to be anything, just tried to joke and to point out that there is too much dirt and nonsense being poured to our ears lately about demonic/esoteric/magic/power and all that stuff.

I read Gérard Encausse (known as Papus) when I was 11. It was fascinating. I think that was a turning point in my life ahaha) I will never be the same after reading about how to levitate and how to make a salve that makes you travel in your sleep, so you can join a Witches' Sabbath...

 

No you didnt! Because well know lady gaga is an occult demon! No, but seriously, there is a lot of occult symbols in hollywood... like madonnas performance. All these signs they put up, all these hand signals. I knew a friend who was in showbiz and she told me its true. But, it could be they have some clique that just does things to laugh at us... but then again, that would still be a proper use of the word occult.

 

That book sounds interesting, and that name sounds familiar.

[ALovingKitten]

Does anyone do reading for forum members? I wouldn't mind a reading.