OK. Done for the day.

[azurelunatic]

I really have lost my writing endurance. Used to be, I could sit and write (serious writing, as opposed to LJ) for the whole morning, as opposed to somewhat over two hours.

I did expand it from four or six pages to thirteen, which is progress, definite progress. After I get it all written and organized, then I'll go back and edit. But I have pages and pages and themes and themes to go.

What should I put in a beginner's manual for magic, anyway?

Comments

[she-retorted.livejournal.com]

I use this (http://www.spiritonline.com/files/messages/9/31.html?0) as a learning outline. Maybe that will help.

What exactly are you, anyway? How long have you been working/studying/practicing?

I used to be very interested in witchcraft, but I rushed ahead too quickly as a teenager and did some irreversible things. (Like a money spell which led my mother to gaining money and then losing her business. I don't know that that was what did it, but I think so.) My life since then has been increasingly negative. I'm going to work for about a year (so I think so far) just meditating and increasing positivity and studying so that anything I do is positive, not with a lot of negative return like my past has been. I also want to find a way to get all and any negativity from my family's house. There are tons of bad vibes here that I contribute to. Have you ever experienced any thing like this?

[azurelunatic]

Thanks for the link.

I'm eclectic, and vaguely Wiccan, with strong influences from the Kabbalistic tradition, and quite a bit of chaos magic lately.

I've been actively studying since 1996, and got an additional boot in the butt in 2000. I was desultorily practicing at least since 1993, and I'm still coming to find the effects of some of those workings echoing back to me in ways I'd never dreamed possible, like getting to meet my best friend.

I did something very screwed-up when I was 17, which led to me falling into a very nasty dark place for a little under a year and flunking out of college. Happily, I've mostly recovered from that, which I was only able to do with the help of my friends dragging me every step of the way.

I have encountered one house that was just full of nasty, icky vibes. We cleansed it with a sage smudge stick, and it was fine until the inhabitants renewed the icky vibes. Wait -- make that two houses. The first house, there was no resident Practitioner renewing the cleansings on a regular basis, and it soon felt as icky as it had before being cleansed. The second one, I got to see while there was a resident Practitioner, and it felt bright and cheerful -- and then, when the cleansings stopped because the witch-in-residence moved out, the place became icky as the bad vibes from the inhabitants rubbed off on it.

Being happy, peaceful, and joyful in everyday life, and not letting stuff get you down is the best way of dispelling negative energy that I can think of. Good luck.

[she-retorted.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your advice.

[chorus-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

I'd say maybe a brief overview of various magical philosophies, like voodoo, santeria, wicca, strega, shamanism, shinto, asaratu, etc. Also an overview on divining skills, like tarot, mediumism, pendulum, oiuja, fortune sticks, bones,astrology, runes....doing maybe a brief paragraph on each item to give the basic jist of it.
I know you've got candle magic down to a T, but there's also string magic, kitchen witchery, tarot magic, sigils, etc...

[azurelunatic]

Hmm. That will, of course, mean... RESEARCH. Heh, heh. Because I don't know beans about many of those to start with.

But a basic paragraph outlining the theory of correspondences and various methods for doing stuff would be... yeah. Good.

[chorus-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

research is fun :)