Questions You’ve Asked Me: Spring 2009 Edition

Hey occulties,

So, your dear friend Cat has now finally recovered from the entire month of April. If April had been a physical being, I would have blown it off the face of the entire Universe. 😉 It sucked. End of story.

After a month made up entirely of Mondays (wasn’t it, or was that just me,) I’ve come to you with a fantabulous new edition of QYAM, and coming in the month of May are all sorts of goodies I’ve been working on for all of you. 😀

Let us begin!

Q: When setting up the altar and charging the spell items, what goes on (or should go on,) in the mind of the spellcaster?

A: While I can’t speak for all spellcasters, or even presume I am the mastermind of the majority of spellcasters (unlike some people, I do not believe I am the leader of the Leauge of Rootworkers, or as Fruity D once claimed, the Leader of the League of Internet Weirdos, nor do I wish to be either, haha,) I can give some insight to my personal practices if this is helpful. 😉

Presumably, I have all ingredients in front of me prior to setting up. 😉 So, I first take all the ritual candles I have, and, unless I have purposefully had this item fixed for me (suchas this nifty item to your right, fixed by Ms Karma Zain and available for purchase at her shop,) and I cleanse each of these by smoking them with sage smoke, or by wiping them down with some Florida Water, or a cleansing wash. This removes outside vibrations on the item. I also spray down my altar with a bit of Florida Water. Once everything has been cleansed, I take a moment to carve my intention into the candles (if applicable,) or to “name” the candles (if applicable,) with a pin or a nail. I also write out all name papers (if applicable.)

Now comes the fun part of charging all of the ritual items. Pre-emptively, my dear occulties, I have been working on a using and sending energy post for you, so if you are unclear on how to do that, I am going to kindly request you bop on over to our friend Julia’s blog over at A Higher Source, where she explains this to you. Anyhow, so moving on where I assume you all know what in the eff I’m speaking of when I speak of sending energy and charging an item, I do this a number of ways – specifically some of you have asked if I use pictures, colors, feelings, etc, so let me re”count” the ways (bad Shakespearean pun totally intended.)

Method 1 – Sometimes if I’m in a certain mood or even just have some extra time or energy, I will actually do this to save myself a bit of time. I sit with the correct color of candle, and put a charge in it for later use. For example, if I’m ridiculously stressed and angry and furious and rabid, I will hold some cursing candles (usually black candles, often figural,) and I will envision dark, angry cursing energy flowing out of myself and into the candle. I will see this as black worms. I do not allow myself to envision that which is CAUSING me this feeling unless I intend to use that candle immediately and on that which I feel antagonized by. This method can be used to give a charge to items for later use. 🙂 So, by definition, I am basically putting “blank” cursing energy into this candle and storing it for later. I can do this with any form of candle – love, luck, money, success, etc. All one needs is either extra energy (of any sort,) and a properly colored or figured (or both) candle. For example, if I want to make some extra love candles, I envision red and pink energy flowing into a red or pink candle, and try to FEEL the emotion of romantic love while I put this into the candle. (Hoping you all understand me on this.) 😉 Now, be sure to leave charged candles either by themselves, or in a box of similarly charged candles. The charge can be personalized later by envisioning the spell-target/s properly (say, if it is a reconicliation type of charge, the later charge would be envisioning the petioner and the target together and happy.)

Method 2 – I visualize colored energy and the desired outcome pouring into the ritual item, as I send the enegy.

Method 3 – I visualize the desired outcome/s pouring into the item/s as I send the energy.

Where do I get the energy from? I take this from the earth and the universe. The method I do this by is that I envision a giant cone shaped (sort of looks like tornado,) force of energy pouring down from the sky into the crown of my head, and then roots coming up from the earth into my base and feet, and when I feel the energy start building inside of me (this does have a sensation,) this is when I start sending this out of usually my right hand. I can send energy using my third eye, my solar plexus, and both of my hands. The reason I usually only send via my right hand is that it was traditionally how I was taught – it seems to balance the energy inside better, as the left hand is what I use for removing energy, and sending it down back to the earth or up back to the universe.

I’m sure you’re all scratching your heads a bit, but stick with me. 😉

For ritual items that are to be reused (such as a candle holder, or in some trads a wand, athame, etc,) I will charge the item by holding it in both hands and filling it with usually white energy. Why “usually?” If I have a specific item like a giant lodestone for a money altar, I would hold this and envision gold, green, and violet energies pouring into the lodestone. This has a specific use for a specific purpose. Depending on your trad, your wand may be used for differing purposes. By charging the item with white energy, you are charging it for multiple purposes.

Finally, with seals my personal preference is to send energy on to this by placing my right hand over it, and envisioning the desired event.

I also hold oils, powders, herbs, incenses within my hand and charge them with a specific color or a specific desired outcome before anointing the item they are to go upon or before placing the item on the altar.

If I really draw a blank, I have even charged an item with seeing my energy as a word going into the item.

Once everything has been charged (you didn’t realize so much went on, did you? hehe,) and properly placed on the altar. I stand for a moment to center myself. Next I envision roots coming from my feet/base and the funnel coming down into my crown, and when I feel the energy begin to build, I begin lighting the incenses, spellcandles. I direct my energy from my mouth, hands, third eye and solar plexus while speaking the chant and spellcasting. I personally see my energy as a spefic color which is specific to the type of working (ie pink for romance, gold for money,) while keeping an image of the desired outcome in my head. When the active casting part of the spell has ended, I do what I have been told is called grounding and centering. I cease pulling my energies from the universe and sending them out. Now, in a weird twist…the most horrid occult writer ever, Silver RavenWolf actually has a really good tip for those of you who want to know how to ground and center yourself post-spell without concentration…the effect, once done spellcasting, can be brought upon by also sticking your hand in some cool water. That really does work. 😉

So, if I haven’t confused you all so far, this is what I do energy-wise during the active part of spellcasting. I do hope that answered the question and didn’t raise a lot more. 😉

Q: Is there some sort of popularity contest among occultists? It sure seems like some people are acting like they are still in high school when it comes to other occultists.

A: While I agree sometimes immaturity springs up in the best of us, and that competition is in any sort of field, I would also agree some people take this a bit to far.

Is there LITERALLY a popularity contest? Well, so far as I know we don’t have one going just yet. There are a few people I think are hoping we do. 😉

In reality, some occultists just feel that the best method of “competing” with those they deem competitors is either to slam the competition or to just act incredibly snobbish. 😉 While I’m not sure which catagory I fit better into, I should hope I don’t lower myself to the standards of those who REALLY act out and feel threatened by all those around them. I know I’m guilty of a bit of intellectual trollism now and again, but hopefully not to the degree of some who just take it…ridiculously far. If I need a bibliography for every email list/chat group I post to, that’s JUUUUUUUSSSSSSTTT a bit much.

So…there’s no real popularity contest, but I’d agree that there are several occultists out there who never emotionally/behaviorally graduated out of the high school level of social skills. 😉

Q: You say the Universe rewards complainers with more to complain about – is that true?

A: Yes. In fact, some people seem to revel in being miserable, so I just assume the Universe is actually rewarding them as they would choose to be rewarded. Some people want to play the victim. It makes them feel special.

Q: I have read you feel that abusive relationships need to be handled more delicately than just using classic break up spellcraft – will you expand on that?

A: Certainly. First off, I’m going to state right now that until you’ve been in an abusive relationship yourself (and men can be in abusive relationships, fellas,) you are not going to entirely understand how they work. This doesn’t just happen overnight where someone hits you upside the head out of the blue, and you think “Gee, s/he’s special – better stay with this one!” 😉 No, its a giant mindf*ck, and it happens gradually (most of the time,) so that the abused becomes dependant on the abuser. This is the first difficult factor in this. The abused will lack self-esteem (no Jason Gammon, they don’t enjoy being abused, and deny deny, but you posted that abused people enjoy the abuse all over a Yahoogroup and everyone knows it, – I won’t be letting you live that down any time soon,) and the abuser will continue to strip away any personal relationships which may threaten the abusers position as boss of the abused, whilst also assuring the abused that only the abuser can bear to deal with them. :S The abuser ISOLATES the abused.

So, this is a factor, obviously, which is of concern. :S We have the abused as being dependant emotionally on the abuser, while often also FINANCIALLY dependant on the abuser. If there is any form of freedom, the abuser does whatever is possible to strip this freedom from the abused party.

Also, we need to remember that when the abuser’s position is threatened in ANY WAY, the abuser reacts with more abuse. This can be violence, verbal, or emotional abuse which is put upon the abused party. And the abuser can be afraid, offended, angry, insulted, or etc, but will abuse the abused party as their reaction almost all of the time.

NOW, wtf does this have to do with using break up spellcraft? you ask. I’m getting there.

See, break up spells often manifest violently. I have seen the most laid-back non-violent people brought to very very violent temper tantrums by this type of spellwork. They scream, they yell, they throw things…sometimes it even gets to the point of physical abuse! If this happens when break up curses are placed on healthy and normal relationships, what on earth do you think can happen on violent and unstable relationships!? Oh, you are starting to get what I’m saying. 😛

Another issue is that, as I’ve stated, the abuser has already eliminated the self-esteem of the abused party, has cut off all known ways of “escape” for the abused party, has made the abused dependant on him/her, and basically done whatever is possible to ensure the abused party will not leave. Well, do the math. If you get an abusive relationship split up, often times it just comes back together in hours, or days, or a week or two. 😛 If not, the abused is also terrified, often even suicidal at the “threat” of having to go into the world with the idea that they are powerless and defenseless without the abuser, and hated by all those who know them. Seriously. So…that can even lead to suicide…if the abuser doesn’t try to kill them for leaving…

Again, is anyone seeing a pattern?

And, while I realize many of us see our friends in abusive relationships and want to get them out to save them…the issue is, until the abused party wants out of the relationship, all you are going to do is make the situation worse. The couple often gets back together, and the abuse continues, and even escalates.

What can you do? If you are trying to HELP an abused party get out of an abusive relationship, you must build their self-esteem and confidence. Place blessing and protection on them. Use your spellcraft to empower them and help them to see what is going on. In the mundane, show them you are there to support them, and let them know you will help them if they want out of the relationship, or for whatever they want.

When it comes to the abuser, you must try to bind this person against harming the abused party. Several people want to curse the abuser, and to some degree this is both satisfying and may even work (hehe,) but remember, as the abuser’s fortunes turn sour, the abuser turns on the abused party to take his/her frustrations out.

Once the abused party is ready to leave, and hopefully does so, use of “Cut and Clear” spellcraft, or the type of spellcraft to destroy the bonds of love between 2 people should be performed.

Please tread carefully when performing spellcraft on abusive relationships…what I am saying here is just part of a giant topic. Often, those with good intentions towards helping a friend, simply cause a worse situation by just tossing out a break up spell. :S

Q: I was taught to soak in a bath and not wash myself up or down, but you say to wash up or down, depending on the purpose…which is better? Is one wrong?

A: While I don’t know how practical it is to ask me if my opinion is better than someone else’s (of course I think so, hahaha,) I would say neither one is wrong. HOWEVER, I was taught to wash UP (feet to head,) to bring a condition to you or on you (for example, to attract love, you would wash up,) or DOWN (head to feet,) to take a condition off of you… My method strikes me as more practical in that I am either washing on a condition or washing it off…but some people prefer to soak. Neither is the wrong way…I just think my way is better. 😉

I hope this has been enlightening!

~C

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