Instructor: Rainsong
Date: May 18, 2019 (Saturday)
Seminar: Topic: Spell-casting – Saturday, 18 May 2019 at 6:30pm/1830hr New York Time — text format in the PSC #lecture room (Discord) — Instructor: Rainsong– Search LECTURE75
Rainsong: Anyone interested in a class tonight?
Rainsong: I’m guessing at least passing interest, seeing as folks bothered to pop in here
Kate Embers: I’d surely read up :thinking:
Carmen: sorry, connection kamikazed
Carmen: I’m up for it. can we talk about spells? if you know about it. I’m not really sure what they’re about or how they work
Rainsong: I’m a psionicist, rather than a spell-caster, as such, but we can discuss it, with the large caveat that I am not an expert
Rainsong: Spellcraft it is
Carmen: killer. I’m fine with just an overview. I have no idea how it fit’s together and what’s fluff and what isn’t. I pretty much know sympathy and that’s it
Rainsong: Magic’s been around a long time.
Rainsong: The ancient cave paintings in France? The one with the dancer in the antlered mask?
Rainsong: that’s widely believed to be the earliest recorded attempt at spellcraft. Almost certainly an attempt to affect the hunt
Rainsong: Throughout rather a lot of history, only the well-off were at all literate, and those who could read and write held a certain amount of power simply by virtue of that ability
Rainsong: So, it’s nosurprise that the written word aquired the sort of thoughtforms that make it ideal for casting magic
Rainsong: Some people like to add some extra oomph by adding “mystery” and “Coolness” to their work by using a code or cypher or just a foreign and/or dead language
Rainsong: “Fiat lux!” sounds cooler than “Turn on the lamp”, yea?
Carmen: I’m very lost. The only spells I’ve heard of are like voodoo dolls and burning something in a candle
Rainsong: Poppet magic – where you use a doll as a subsitute for the person you’re affecting – is not restricted to Voodoo.
Rainsong: The doll in question serves primarily as a focus. However, it can also help strengthen the connection by having things associated with the target integrated into the doll
Rainsong: For example, a doll might be fashioned of wax, and the person’s name etched into it.
Rainsong: Or a spot of blood or a piece of hair might be sewn into a cloth doll
Rainsong: When I do EFT, for example, I use a plushie (“Tappy Turtle”), especially if I’m working on someone who’s far away
Carmen: and the doll is like a tag to the person?
Carmen: I still don’t get how it works. like I could have a doll stained with a friend’s blood and give it a penny everyday, but I don’t see hoe that translates into making something happen on a macro scale
Rainsong: Pretty much, yes
Rainsong: The doll and the blood spot and the penny are tools. And none of them is essential to make the spell work. They just make it easier
Carmen: then how would you magically give someone money? It sounds like you already need to know how to do it before you can magnify it with props
Rainsong: That’s it exactly.
Carmen: sounds like you could turbo charge an intention, but all i can imagine for something outside of my controll would be like a very loud wish
Rainsong: Without the base skill, the props are just for play-acting. Which can be fun, but not overly useful
Rainsong: In the rightt frame of mind, the props help you focus on the intention.
Kate Embers: As far as I understand spellcraft it’s all about subconscious stuff. It’s mostly the subconsciousness that “casts the magick” in this instance. And the sub-c is particularly fond of symbolism. Hence the words, rhymes, candles, wax, water, wands, athames, bolines, fire, herbs,.……… It’s all symbolism.
Rainsong: But you’re getting the idea, “turbo-charging the intention” is what really gets the thing going
Rainsong: KAte: very true
Rainsong: Sub-c doesn’t really “do” words very well. That’s why phrasing needs to be very careful, if you’re doing anything word-based (such as hypnosis… not magic, but still dealing with sub-c)… negative grammatical structures don’t even register, for example
Carmen: eh, some things exist seperate from the subconcious. I mean on the mental lots of things have connections given to them by people. like the weeping part of a weeping willow. but a lot of stuff predates us and exists on a much deeper level
Carmen: as far as I can tell it seems to work along the lines of resonance
Kate Embers: (I’ll read up from here tomorrow, thanks and good night ^~^ )
Rainsong: (be well, Kate. Good night)
Carmen: (night kate)
Carmen: intentions seem to work best for things inside your own control. like completeing a project or getting fitter. the magic part seems to create a kind of slipstream paving the way, but I don’t get how to do that for something that I can directly do
Rainsong: Some people “do magic” by petitioning (or coercing) other entities to do the heavy lifting for them. That gets complicated. And I’m just going to say, if you’re going to go that route, be very sure of Whom you’re approaching, and don’t be a (expletive deleted)
Carmen: nuuuuu no no no no
Rainsong: Hi, Ceah
ceahhettan: Hi.
Carmen: hey
ceahhettan: I was going to say something about deities and entities but I need to figure out precisely how I’m allowed to apparently.
ceahhettan: In any case, I’m going to read up a moment.
Carmen: really not a fan of ‘petitioning’ as you put it
ceahhettan: I mean there are times where petitioning is useful. One could say that most Abrahamic prayer is that sort of spell in some level.
Rainsong: Nor am I
ceahhettan: However.
Rainsong: Certainly. And not only Abrahamic
Carmen: not from a moral standpoint, but I’ve been screwed over quite a lot by entities
ceahhettan: True. Abrahamic was just the first bit that came to mind.
Carmen: personally I don’t make exchanges. it’s just not worth it
ceahhettan: The thing about it is to be very clear about what is being offered in return, etc.
ceahhettan: I have long standing oaths to several deities and working relationships with a number of other entities. So I have a rather different perspective overall?
ceahhettan: On the other hand those oaths govern both sides.
Carmen: it works for some people and i can respect that
Carmen: how would you do it solo @Rainsong ?
Rainsong: Do what exactly?
Rainsong: Also, Ceah knows more about this area of study than I do. … Aside from the fact he has as much place in the conversation as anyone else…
Carmen: something that I couldn’t do by muggle means alone, like making it rain for example
Carmen: I don’t see the link
Rainsong: Making it rain is trivial here, most of the year. Concentrate on the sound and feel of falling rain, and the drop in temperature accompanying same, while focuing on the intention of calling that situation into reality.
Carmen: and the spell to back that up could be getting some rainwater from the last rain dribbling it on the mud outside while focussing on the intention?
Rainsong: Sure, if you want.
Rainsong: Or, making “rain” sounds by snapping your fingers, and patting your thighs
Carmen: or by angering thor I guess
Rainsong: That might also do it. Or, He might withold rain if he were annoyed
Carmen: really? I get the feeling that it’d just rain as he killed you
Rainsong: That’s also possible. I do not speak for Him, but I imagine He has several options at His disposal
Carmen: true, also I imagine more power after the thor movies and all the attention
Rainsong: Probably so. Attention and adoration is something that’s supposed to be good for deities
Carmen: what were you talking about way back at the start, about words? I sort of derailed that, not seeing the link to spellcraft as I’d heard it
Rainsong: I was talking about how spellcraft developed over the millenia
Carmen: i see
Rainsong: Because, if you nkow how and why something has been done, it’s easier to develop your own methods, not to mention getting the older methods to work
Rainsong: Typically, the spellbooks do not include enough information to actually make the thing work
Rainsong: Not because the writer was trying to hide anything, but rather because the writer assumed a certain amount of base skill and knowledge on the part of the reader
Rainsong: (granted, some spell books are total nonsense… But with enough skill, you can get even industrial-grade manure spells to function)
Carmen: mmm makes sense. Ive seen a lot of stuff that puts wayyyyy more emphasis on nice rhymy words than anything else
Rainsong: Corny rhymes appeal to the subconscious. The cornier the better
Rainsong: … as long as they aren’t so embarrassing as to be a distraction, themselves
Rainsong: In my opinion, views on corny poetry usage are one of the things that leads people to or from certain kinds of magic
Rainsong: Does the recitation of such poetry make you feel more “magicky”? Then use ’em. They’ll probably work well for you
Rainsong: Do they make you think that rattling looks dignified by comparison? Then don’t use ’em, because they’ll just get in the way
Carmen: makes sense
Carmen: bet you could do something interesting with a well picked playlist while running
Rainsong: Indeed
Rainsong: Or while not-running
Carmen: also true. religious ceremonies are starting to make more sense now
Rainsong: Yep
Rainsong: Any questions or commentary?
Carmen: none from me
Raggiedmon: Thank for subject lol